


Angel Training 2: Save Us

by Zafona



Series: Angel Training [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Anal Sex, Angels, Battle Arena, Fighting, Love, M/M, Plotty, Political, Romance, Sex, Sexual Content, Slavery, tournament
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-08
Updated: 2013-03-08
Packaged: 2017-12-04 15:10:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 27
Words: 69,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/712127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zafona/pseuds/Zafona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angels are enslaved by mankind and despite the attempts of Dean and Castiel, Sam and his rebel group, things are getting complicated. Main story takes place 5 years after Angel Training. The political and controversial game comes to an end when Lucifer joins the play. Part 2 of the trilogy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Months before the championship round…_

_"That's why I'm here. You're the leader of the Freedom Fighters, right? I need your help, Sam."_

" _Because if you own me no one else can… Sam, please!"_

" _I'll even help out with your Freedom Fighter gig… I have some ideas… but it involves leaving home, think you can handle that?"_

" _GO TO SLEEP! GO TO SLEEP!"_

Sam started and sat upright, his eyes flashed open like someone had set off a firework next to him. He'd been dreaming of Gabriel, the night they met and how his angel had begged him to place that collar around his neck. If Sam could take it off without Crystal Wings being able to steal Gabriel and lock him up, he would. He'd never wanted to possess an angel like Dean had; he'd never wanted to enslave anyone. How was it okay that he'd done it? Considering what he'd been preaching and his actions combined, he hated his own hypocrisy to no end. Regardless, it was a sweet dream to remember Gabriel, to remember doing something for him.

But then he remembered they made a bond through their connection, held hands and embraced one another. But what was that weird vision before hand? Sam could hardly remember it but in his subconscious mind there was a reminder screaming at him. What did it mean, go to sleep? What was the context? Despite his questions Sam couldn't, for the life of him, figure out the answers, no matter how often he asked himself.

"Sam?" Gabriel interrupted his thoughts with a cheerful smile and more than welcomed enlightened tone. "Done sleeping?"

"Yeah," Sam rubbed his eyes and stretched a little, looking around at the area vaguely, "How far did we get?"

"Pretty far, actually. Almost there." Gabriel ran a hand through the teen's hair, moving it out of his face temporarily. They were lying in the back of a large truck with several other Freedom Fighters. Many of them had decided that if they were ever going to make a difference then they needed to uproot and do something, their lives needed to be all about this or they were just blowing hot air. Sam still couldn't believe how many people they'd gathered in the last month alone. Granted he was also amazed that he'd run away from home in the first place.

It was exhilarating, to say the least. He'd defied his parents' vision of what was tolerable, he'd completely disagreed with Dean's decision to force Castiel to fight, he ran away from home, and now he was in the process of hitting one of the major Crystal Wings' facilities. Today was the one situated in Chicago, Illinois, a testing facility. Their intent was to free every angel and blow the place up.

Granted he went as far as to destroy a shipment of angel catching supplies so what was another step or two up on the drastic scale? Whole buildings being demolished on a weekend when no one was working after every living thing had been evacuated? Not that big a deal.

After such a long drive and what felt like forever crammed in the back of a truck, Sam finally got to stretch his legs when they'd reached the testing facility. He looked up at the place and furrowed his brow, he'd read about places like this and the thought of what he'd find in there disgusted him.

"Beta team's already securing the grounds, making sure no one's in the offices." One of the newer recruits informed him. Even though Sam was only 14 people treated him like he was an adult and knew exactly what he was doing. He was, after all, the one who founded this group and the one who held their ideals in the strongest regards. The bottom-line among the Freedom Fighters was you're either in or out, there was no in between, and there definitely was no fucking with Sam Winchester. You lie or cheat the boss in any kind of way and you get your ass handed to you. Sam was loved by the Freedom Fighters, loved and respected, his age didn't matter.

"Thanks, Andy." Sam smiled at the guy briefly and started toward the building, motioning the Alpha team to follow him. They had the real job; freeing the angels held captive as lab rats.

The first doors to the basement labs were difficult to bust through, but of course Sam had expected that much. The way the building was laid out in the blueprints there had been obvious hints that any live beings would be held in the basement, all the chemical and product testing was done in the upper levels where just about anyone could go. The basement was employees only.

Gabriel stood back from the doors a good distance, pointing out the angel warding sigils around the entrance. "They didn't want any runaways, apparently." He muttered humourlessly. Unlike everyone else around him he knew what they were about to see and he was in no hurry to do so.

Sam smirked as he watched the hinges on the door come apart thanks to one of their more engineering type members. Of course, explosives never hurt the situation either. He walked in first, his stride confident and strong until he took in the sights of the first visible area.

There was angel-warding magic everywhere, some meant to pin the beings down, some that stole the angel's strength and locked down their graces while under the signs. There were many more different symbols that Sam couldn't even identify though he was certain that they could only be harmful. "Gabriel, I want you to wait upstairs." He said sternly though his voice shook enough that the archangel noticed.

Gabriel swallowed but shook his head, "No, the sigils aren't as strong against me, I can stay."

Sam couldn't take his eyes away from the immediately visible cells, they were at an angle that he couldn't see the state the captives were in but he could see blood staining the floor, pooling around the bars and into drains. He steadied himself and continued forward, the further he walked, however, the less he wanted to be there. Each cell he approached held an even more disturbing sight, each one aided with the same magic as the entrance. In one of them the angel's wings had been torn from its back, the company's own trapping equipment chaining the creature down as it continued to writhe on the floor, as if the pain never really went away. The test was more than likely to see how 'clipping the wings' worked out.

Another was being tested to see how well shock collars worked, just in case that angel was particularly stubborn and didn't listen to orders their grace would be violently shaken until the owner decided they'd been suitably punished. One angel was donning the new obedience collar; it sat staring at them from the floor of its prison, a crust of drool trailed from the corner of its mouth and some snot from its nose. It hadn't been in control long enough to wipe its face while crying. Sam noted the ugly throbbing veins that glowed a deep purple beneath the angel's skin connecting to the collar itself. This collar was supposed to be the leading technology in angel obedience, all an angel would be capable of doing while under its influence would be to follow a human's every wish.

Sam shuddered; he could hardly bear to see anymore. "Let's start on freeing them, come on!" he ordered the others, motioning for the Alpha team to spread out throughout the labs. He took some of the hacking equipment for himself and headed toward another cell, the doors couldn't be blown apart because it'd hurt the angels but they didn't have keyholes to pick, either. Swipe cards were generally used, which meant Sam had to call for the help of any hacker type individuals. Lucky for him there were a few of them, a girl named Charlie had been particularly helpful in making fake keycards for most of the team.

It took over an hour and a half to get the wounded angels out of the building and outside, some of them Sam wasn't even sure would make it but once they'd gotten outside all of their faces seemed to brighten. They were in touch with their graces again and had regained the ability to heal themselves. Even Gabriel exhaled dramatically, "Wow it feels good to be out of there."

"That bad?" Sam looked up at him.

Gabriel nodded, "OH yeah! Like… It's like waking up and feeling rejuvenated after pulling an all-nighter. Or like if you haven't eaten in three days and then you eat your favourite food. Or-"

"I get it." Sam looked back at the significant number of angels starting to stand again, "They must feel so relieved right now…"

"Probably are," Gabriel smiled, "So when's the building going up?"

"Soon, once the team's done with the set up we'll get the hell away from this place." Sam crossed his arms and couldn't help but smile at what they'd done that day. These angels got to see the light of day again after who knows how long, they may not be entirely safe but that was something that they'd need to work on.

He furrowed his brow, glancing over at the collar around Gabriel's neck again, his mind spinning like a hamster wheel. "Hey…" he reached up and tapped the foreign device suspiciously, "If they can engineer these things to force you guys to listen to us, can they be made to resist the enslaving process?"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and looked down at the teen skeptically, "I couldn't really say. Something we could look into though."

Sam nodded, "I'll call some people, get them on it and see if it's possible at all, at least."

The bombing team came into view, waving and signaling for everyone to start clearing out. Gabriel went to the angels' that were rising and looking confused as to what they should do next, "You're free, for now. Get outta here if you want, though you're more than welcome to help us out."

A brief exchange was made and majority of the angels took off, in fact they all wanted freedom after that nightmarish experience. Sam couldn't blame them. The Freedom Fighters climbed into their vehicles again and as they drove off a button was hit, the shockwave rattled their transportation but to them it was more of a victory trumpet. They'd definitely be making the news for this one.

Sam allowed himself a moment to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment before starting to plan their next move with the others. Well, it had already been planned last week but he'd recently had a few more ideas for the process to go a bit smoother.

After the news coverage had gotten them a little more fame, the Freedom Fighters only grew in numbers.

* * *

Sam looked up at the television Gabriel had been watching from their motel room couch, the archangel had been switching the channels rapidly looking for something fun to watch. During the two seconds the old television forced you to wait before being able to change the station again Sam heard the name Castiel spouted. "Wait, go back!" He demanded, running across the room and leaning over to see the screen.

" _Dean Winchester and Castiel: new World Champions!"_  The label at the bottom of the screen flashed over and over as several angled camera shots were flipped through of his older brother and Castiel. They both looked beaten up though somehow Castiel seemed radiant, the one shot of his face showed that much. His blue eyes were vibrant even in his dazed and confused state as he stared down at the trophy.

"They won…" Sam muttered, going around the couch and sitting down beside Gabriel to watch, clearly they weren't getting the live version so there'd be more on it coming up. The news reporter went as far as to show clips from the most memorable moments of Castiel's debut, the moments that led to Castiel's stance as a fan favourite, and of course the adorable scenes where the relationship between him and Dean was so obvious and sweet.

Sam sat through the hour special they'd put together, watching the highlights of Castiel's fights and failures. The battles where the angel could no longer stand at the end were painful to watch but Sam didn't want to face Castiel again without knowing the pain that he'd gone through to accomplish whatever it was he imagined he could accomplish this way. He was mistaken, of course. There was no way Castiel could get the respect angels deserved by fighting in those silly tournaments, or at least Sam didn't think so.

"Wow," Gabriel finally said after allowing his human the hour of concentrated silence. "Castiel has certainly changed."

"You knew him?" Sam looked at him sadly.

"Yeah, he was nothing like the angel you see in those fights. I'm not sure if it's sad to see him participate or if I'm glad that he's fighting for something he believes in."

"I think it's sad…" Sam turned back toward the television, his eyes hardening in an anger he wasn't aware was so strong in him. "It's horrible, what Dean's making him do."

Gabriel shrugged, "From the looks of how they progressed, Castiel wants to be there just as much or more than Dean does."

Sam nodded and turned the TV off, "Come on, we've got work to do."

"You got it, Sammy." Gabriel smirked at the teen, reaching over and smacking Sam's hip playfully.

"Gabriel…" Sam stepped away from the touch awkwardly, that 'we talked about this' tone in his voice.

"I know," Gabriel stood up and ruffled Sam's hair, "No pervy actions until you're at least sixteen."

"I just think it's creepy if you do anything before then, I've barely hit puberty." He muttered as he headed toward the door.

"You know, you have your head on straighter than any teenager I've ever met, ever." Gabriel rolled his eyes and followed, "Just my luck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to mention here: Sam in the start of this chapter mentions that weird vision, if you'd like to refresh the instance of that moment re-read chapter 24 in Angel Training, it's at the end in italics.
> 
> As well the Chicago, Illinois testing facility was briefly mentioned at the tail end of Chapter 29 if you wanted to relive that moment.


	2. Chapter 2

"So what will you do next?" The interviewer leaned forward; her eyes large and painted with so many different types of make-up that Dean couldn't even really identify them. He could smell her perfume from across the room just fine but sitting next to her made it nearly impossible to breathe at some moments. He'd already long noted that Castiel had deduced the same thing as he was taking every moment he could to hold his nose to block the smell or at least try not to cough too frequently.

"Uh, this wasn't publicized and hadn't been done around any cameras but," Dean took Castiel's hand and squeezed it as if to ground himself, "before the championship match I asked Cas to stay with me, I asked him to marry me."

The live studio audience they were sitting in front of suddenly erupted in an insane kind of cheer, some excited squeals and a lot of shocked gasps. "Marry you?" The interviewer blinked rapidly, "Is that even possible? Can you do that?"

"Doesn't matter if we can't right now," Dean smiled, "He said yes and whenever it's legally possible, well… We're going to do it, even if it's never legalized here."

Castiel blushed and leaned over to give his fiancé a kiss, the cameras making sure to get some close ups. "Dean and I will always be a team," Castiel said softly as they leaned back from one another's lips though his eyes remained locked with Dean's. "I wouldn't ever leave him."

The interviewer took a breath to recover from that, "It's beautiful that the two of you could find love together."

"Yes," Castiel nodded, "Especially considering the awful state of human and angel relations in the world."

Again, she didn't know how to recover from his blatant anger toward the situation of angels around the globe. "How about I ask you two some questions?" She started a little nervously.

"How about I ask you something?" Castiel leaned forward toward her, his face serious and intense. "How do you feel about me sitting across from you like this? Talking to you?"

"It's fine." She answered, not wanting to seem un-host like.

"What do you think I am?"

"An angel." She answered again, still being polite.

"Where do I stand in society?" Castiel tilted his head slightly; his eyes squinted in that curious way.

"You are a world champion in the field of Angel battles."

"You have to answer this way, you're being watched on TV's." Castiel sighed heavily and stood up, walking toward the edge of the stage to face the audience, "All of you, can someone answer me? What is an angel in society today?"

A little girl threw her hand up into the air, a scrutinizing look on her tiny face. Castiel pointed at her to acknowledge she had an answer, "Angels are pets." She answered spitefully; clearly a hateful person had raised her.

Castiel glanced at the girl's mother who was attempting to keep social appearance up in this crowd and shushing her child. "She's right," Castiel looked at the rest of them, "In most of your eyes I am nothing more than a dog. The mention of my name is equated with a creature you can stow away in a shed or maybe house-train. But when you see me standing here in front of you, speaking to you with my own passions and my heart on my sleeve, how many of you see what I am?"

The audience was quiet; they weren't often put on the spot. After a moment another small hand slowly rose above a young boy's head, he looked a little shaky as he addressed the angel. "I…" The boy dropped his hand again after Castiel acknowledged him as well with a nod, he fidgeted with a smile and looked up a little more confidently, "I see my hero." He said though his voice was still on the verge of shy.

Castiel stopped and really looked at the boy, his expression softened and he was across the room in a flash, standing next to the child in the audience. Dean couldn't help but smile, watching the scene play out, though he was mostly amused by the interviewer's face as Castiel took over her show.

"What's your name?" Castiel asked gently, kneeling next to the awe struck boy.

"T-Tommy," He stuttered.

Castiel smiled and lifted his hand toward Tommy's, "Thank you, Tommy. I would like it if you'd call me Cas, if that's alright?"

Tommy took his hand eagerly and shook it, "Yes! Yes that would be so great, thank you Cas!" he beamed at the privilege to call Castiel by something only people he liked could call him.

Castiel nodded at Tommy and flew back to the stage to address the audience again, "Tommy sees me in a very different light than a lot of people I've noticed. Angels are slaves to humanity, heavenly beings that have more power and strength than you can imagine; holy servants of God and you force us to fight one another for entertainment. That's why I stand up here now, because I beat my brothers and sisters, literally beat them with my own two hands. All just so I could get a chance to speak to you, in my few seconds of spotlight I need you to understand me. We are intelligent, living, breathing, feeling beings-"

"You just said servants of God." One woman shouted out from the crowd, his face twisted with a prideful kind of sneer. "Isn't it written that angels were made to serve mankind?"

Castiel's eyes snapped up and met hers with an intense stare, one he made sure she could feel even from that distance. "We are meant to serve men, yes. However we did not come to you all in that way, we came pleading for our lives, begging for help. Heaven is in shambles, it's desolate and completely uninhabitable by human or angel. We could either choose to die with it or find a new home, the only other one that our Father had created."

The audience, that woman included, had quieted down entirely. This was the kind of story that regular people didn't hear about, it was something that the top military people of the world had known all those years ago when the decision to fight and conquer had been made. Common knowledge on the actual situation was actually not common at all; in fact it was damn near top secret. "What happened?" The same woman asked, feeling like a fool for ever speaking up against Castiel without knowing the full truth.

"Over the span of a week the top angels met with the dominant leaders of Earth several times and finally we all escaped Heaven, every one of us lined up in the chosen field, the one we were told that we'd be welcomed in. That day I remember being fairly far back, I couldn't hear the discussions but I was hopeful. We all knew humans could be easily frightened and we didn't want that to happen, I was certain that we'd be welcomed with open arms. I was very wrong." Castiel closed his eyes and shook his head; "The backlash of angels trying to fly away, to get away from what ever weapons and magic that had been prepared… None of us could fly, we were too tightly packed together, our wings were too large to attempt an escape all at once. Anyone who tried was probably caught, instead I ran away."

Dean put a hand on his shoulder and they looked at one another, the pain and grief rose in Castiel's eyes and made an uncomfortable lump in his throat. Dean nodded and looked up at the crowd, "What Cas is trying to tell you is that they're just like people, they cry, they get mad, they laugh, they hurt. They are just like us and have every right to freedom that we do, nowadays we'd never think to put a collar on our neighbours and yet that's what we did. The existence of angels isn't a question anymore, where they came from shouldn't be too hard to grasp either. We were all created by the same dude, right? They're our brothers, in a way. And if you don't buy that then at least they're our neighbours. I'm not saying 'do something now', I just want you all to think about it and maybe treat them a little better."

"A lot better," Castiel added with a firm nod.

Dean smiled, "A lot better," he agreed. "Just look at Cas and I, I never would have thought I could love someone like I love him. I was just like any horny teenager, if I could get some then I was fine with it but keep me the hell away from a serious relationship. Now? Now I can't imagine getting up in the morning without him there. He's my angel, my lover, my fiancé, and my best friend."

"Okay, I think that's about all the time we have for now." The interviewer piped in again, trying to regain her ground as the show's host. "Thank you, Dean and Castiel, for coming out here and talking with us."

The show wrapped up and the two started walking toward Dean's car, fingers laced together. "That went pretty well." Dean smiled.

"Yes…" Castiel wavered a little, "Dean, we've gone to dozens of those and yet… We haven't gotten anywhere! It's been a month since we won the tournament, I thought we'd get further than this…"

Dean frowned, not liking the disheartened expression on Castiel's face, "Cheer up, we're getting there okay? I imagine we'll have to join a lot more tournaments at this rate. We reached a few teams in that last one, their owners probably not so much but the angels believe in you. Now we're working on the human side of it, the crowds love you but we have to keep that going. People have short attention spans."

"Oh yeah…" Castiel scratched his head and shook it after. "Another thing, I wish I were as good with words as you are, to make you feel as special as you make me feel." He looked up with a red tint to his cheeks, his brow curved upward.

Dean smiled, "You're better than you think, Cas." He kissed his angel's cheek and walked around the side of the car, "I feel special knowing that you let me call you Cas, I feel special that you sleep in the same room as me, that you shower with me, that you trust me enough to sleep at all, that you let me fuck you, that-"

"I get it," Castiel shoved him playfully after hopping in on his side. He laughed a little and leaned over to rest his head on Dean's shoulder, "Thank you."

"Not at all," Dean smiled and kissed the top of Castiel's head. He looked forward and started to drive, his mind drifting to the thought of brothers, his brother. Sam was still missing. When they'd gotten home for the first time in forever all John or Mary could say was that Sam had shown no signs of intending to run away, or so none they'd noticed. It pained Dean to know that his now 15-year-old brother was out there on his own, it hurt knowing that he hadn't said much to Sam in the ways of comforting or big brotherly, but mostly he just missed the brat. That way he said Dean's name, the bitch-face when something morally questionable had occurred or if Dean had just been bully him.

"I miss Sam." Castiel muttered sadly, which didn't surprise Dean since they constantly seemed to be on the same page with things. "I'm… I'm sorry we haven't found him yet."

"We've looked," Dean shook his head, "There's nothing more we can do, the trail is months old by now and he didn't leave much of a trace to begin with. I guess all we can do is… hope he's alright."

"You were going to say pray." Castiel pointed out joylessly.

Dean nodded, "Yeah… After meeting you and falling for you I just… I guess I like to pray to a higher power now, you know? Maybe it's weird."

"Kind of." Castiel smirked, "After all, there's nothing you can pray for that you can't ask me to do, or if you consider God's position then He's kind of stuck or dead at the moment so Him helping is probably not going to happen much."

Dean sighed, "So we just keep going like we have, if we catch a whiff of Sam we look for him. Meanwhile, I'll look for every tournament and we'll win as many as we can to keep people tuned into us."

"Won't they get tired of us?" Castiel frowned, "I mean, if their attention spans are that bad…"

"Maybe, we'll see." Dean smiled and looked down at the tuft of black hair he could see instead of Castiel's face, "People are pretty shallow, that and the tournaments are turning more toward including humans in them. I'm going to have to really start working out. You… just need to learn how to be sexier."

"Why?" Castiel looked up, his brow furrowed profusely with his confusion.

"To keep their attention. You keep attention when they become fanatically crazy about you for a bit, then you just continue to show that you're more than a pretty face and you end up keeping the respectable fans and-"

"You've whittled this down to some stupid kind of Dean-science, haven't you?" Castiel interrupted with a cocked eyebrow.

"You could… say that, yeah…" Dean trailed off, thinking about what Castiel had just said, "Dean-science?"

"Just drive." Castiel got comfy again, pretty much laying down across the front seat with his head in Dean's lap, staring up at his human. "We'll do what we can."

"Like always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They seem to continually give each other pep talks, don't they? I should just rename this thing 'How to Pep Talk Your Angel' or something… That's a terrible title, I'm sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

Even in the last five years of torment from the Freedom Fighters, six including the year that they first started out, Crystal Wings and the entire Angel Enslavement Industry fought hard against the wave of anti-angel binding that seemed to have swept over everyone. Granted with the combined effort of the Freedom Fighters, their aggressive stance and protesting, with the interest and knowledge that Dean and Castiel had instilled in the general public, Crystal Wings struggled. People didn't buy as much, not as many were interested in the products, some even asked for refunds on their equipment.

This meant more drastic measures needed to be taken, more people needed to be interested in the different fields that enslaved angels could be offered in. Of course, all of that meant that more research needed to be done, newer and better toys needed to be invented, better controlling devices and easier to use capturing mechanisms. All of this led back to the testing facilities, angels would have to be used to test devices, toys, environments, and other things like that. The market was theirs; they just needed to seize it again, back from the meddling twerps and their angels.

The fifth world tournament that Dean and Castiel would participate in was fast approaching. It'd been just over five years, almost six, since the two first met and trained together. Along the way they'd challenged every tournament they could, finding that the one on one wasn't as difficult as the two on two. If it were just angel vs. angel Castiel would win hands down, he and Dean had a perfect bond, the strongest one ever conceived. When the fight involved Dean facing off against the other human it was a little trickier, Dean's attention span had gotten so much better but there were times where their bond had failed miserably, almost like their first training sessions with Mrs. Milton alongside Chuck and Anna.

Castiel would scold Dean for not concentrating; he'd thought they were past this stage. Dean would counter with something along the lines of 'he'd never had to concentrate will running away from a giant before'.

The idea during the two on two fights was that both the human and angel would win their own matches, or whoever was left standing, be it the whole team or just one member of the team, their team would win. Castiel always found it to be a stupid thing, really. Mostly because if the humans could last long enough against one another and let the angels duke it out, whichever angel won would pretty much determine the match. In his opinion it wasn't much different than it usually was, aside from the fact that Dean needed to work on his focus again.

In the middle of their sixth year together, the discussions about the fifth world championship tournament flared up and it was sounding like it would be an all out battle royal. Though rumours tended to fly around a lot these days, it was also being said that the humans would be put in mortal danger, possibly caged for each match so the angel had to free them but fight at the same time. There were a lot of things being said, Dean didn't let himself get overly excited anymore, not like the first year and not like the second. He'd gotten to the point where he'd stress out to his wits end, trying to train for anything and everything. It just wasn't possible to be ready for it all.

"You feeling alright?" Castiel strolled across their living room, they'd moved in together a year or two back. Apparently winning tournaments not only got you some fame but you won a fair amount of money, too. Castiel's eyes lingered on Dean's, that cool piercing blue just drifting there. He elegantly glided across the room to where Dean sat on the sofa; a beautiful silk robe hung open from his shoulders and caressed his naked hips. Castiel had never been a fan of clothing and when at home preferred to stay as naked as possible. Dean only asked that he wear something that could be closed if company happened to arrive, since it often did.

"I'm good," Dean smiled up at the concern etched in Castiel's face; his angel always asked him that during the pre-tournament season. "Get over here, gorgeous," Dean took Castiel's wrist and tugged him over, nestling the nudist angel in his lap. "How are you feeling?"

Castiel laughed lightly and kissed Dean, a slow and passionate motion that sent shivers down Dean's spine. "I'm alright, though I wish…" He looked down at his left hand, the one that Dean had already long put an engagement ring on. "I wish they'd just let us."

"In our minds we already are, Cas. The rest is just a formality for everyone else." Dean kissed Castiel's jaw, trailing down the soft flesh of his neck and causing little bumps of excitement to sprout up.

Castiel moaned softly and wriggled to sit up. He slung one leg over Dean's lap and adjusted himself to straddle his fiancé, shuffling a little closer to make sure he wouldn't fall off backward. "But still," he whispered, leaning in close to Dean's face and resting their foreheads together, his eyes lingered on the sight of their noses touching before flicking up to stare into those beautiful hazel orbs. "I want everyone else to see it too, to see that you are mine just as much as I am yours."

Dean reached around and cupped Castiel's rear as a little better support for his angel. "We will yet, just give them time."

"We've given them 5 years already, how long do I have to wait?" Castiel whined gently, his lips brushing past Dean's with a sensual nature and an edge of his sexuality.

Dean smiled and nuzzled his cheek against Castiel's, "Be patient, it's not like we're any less together now than we would be. We'll show them all soon enough, when we legally get married we know we're winning, okay? Just gotta be patient."

Castiel growled in frustration with Dean's answer and lack of physical responsiveness, his hips ground forward in a sort of lazy roll; he licked his lips and continued the slow thrust forward, eyes never leaving Dean's. "How did you want to pass the time then?"

Dean looked up and down the slender, wanting body perched on top of him, perfection etched in every detail and lust nearly physical enough to drip from the skin. "I think you've already got that planned out." Dean smiled and looked back into Castiel's watchful gaze, his hand slipped between his angel's spread thighs and slowly stroked the aching, hardened flesh waiting there.

Castiel bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes with a stifled gasp, a moan rumbling in throat. "Fuck…" he groaned breathily and ground his hips forward again; a deep blush stained his cheeks as he grew warmer.

That slow, beautiful sway of Castiel's body was enough to hypnotize Dean, watching the subtle shift in his angel's muscles and the expressive features of Castiel's face was better than going to the movies sometimes. Castiel's mouth would fall open, his eyes would close to focus better on the feeling, and the smallest, most adorable little gasps and squeaks would escape him. Just gorgeous. What he didn't notice until that moment was Castiel's sneaky little magic trick, with just a wish the angel could remove Dean's clothes, discarded off to the side of the room. He didn't complain though, it was nice to feel those soft, tender thighs pressing against his skin. It was also a treat for his dick, which had been suffering; pinned down thanks to the jeans he'd been wearing.

Dean watched Castiel straighten up and gracefully slip the thin robe from his shoulders; he arched and leaned back as his hips continued their smooth thrusting pattern, letting out a long and appreciative moan. Castiel wet his fingers, sucked on them slowly, and deliberately glanced up at Dean with that seductive look speckled all over his striking blue eyes. Castiel's tongue flicked up and over his fingers until they were acceptably soaked with saliva, he removed them from between his lips with a pop and bent forward. One hand firmly planted on the back of the couch to support himself while the other proceeded to prod at his entrance, circling it slowly and carefully.

Castiel mewled softly as he pressed his finger inside, Dean gasped lightly as he watched. Castiel had never gone to the extent of prepping himself or touching himself for that matter, it was something that Dean liked to do so usually Castiel didn't bother. Dean realized now that not letting his angel explore his own body was a bit of a mistake, Castiel was losing himself in the touch of his own hand. His fingers curled into the edge of the sofa and he leaned forward against Dean's chest, moaning louder as he attempted to finger fuck himself though there was no way he could get enough out of it.

Dean smiled, knowing that Castiel had long put at least three fingers in for more. He took his hand off the painfully erect penis, a movement that Castiel groaned a frustrated complaint over. Dean reached around and adjusted himself appropriately before forcing Castiel's hand out, mostly ignoring the enraged snarl he'd earned for doing that too. "Shh," Dean hushed him and firmly grasped his hips. He paused to enjoy the eager twitches and thrusts that his angel couldn't help, the pathetic and needy moans only added to the view.

"I always make you beg," Dean mused aloud.

Castiel only pressed his cheek against Dean's in response, his mouth open and gasping into Dean's ear, his breath hot and heavy and sending shivers down Dean's back. "Please…" he whimpered.

"I will, but I want you to jerk yourself off during." Dean leaned back to look at the wrecked expression on his lover's face.

Castiel nodded quickly, "Yes, just-"

Dean forced Castiel's hips down and onto his cock, burying himself deep inside Castiel's hot and tense ass, his angel's muscles flexing and tightening around him. Castiel's legs trembled for a moment but he started bobbing himself up and down, slamming back onto the hard, thick length of Dean's dick, over and over again. He groaned gruffly, his voice causing another shiver of excitement along Dean's spine.

Castiel's hand fumbled until he found his cock, aching and in desperate need of attention. He'd jerked Dean off several times before but it was a little different to do it to himself, he was in control of how much pressure he put on himself, how much he wanted to tease and how fast he would stroke. Dean could get off on watching his angel masturbate; fucking Castiel up the ass while voyeur-ing didn't hurt anything, though. Dean grunted and held off, wanting to see how much Castiel could get out of himself before coming and possibly ruining it for finishing too soon. The cutest thing happened repeatedly, though. Every time Castiel was really close to getting to his limit and tumbling over the edge he'd lose focus on his hand and slow his pace, he'd whimper at himself and try again with the same result.

Dean didn't want to stop Castiel but it was too damn adorable to not help, as much as he wanted to watch his angel squirm. Dean thrust harder, slamming into Castiel's prostate with more force than the angel had been expecting, his body jerking almost as if he'd been electrocuted. A pleasured cry ripped from his throat, a wrecked sound that was cut short by another and another, his hand doing its best to keep up. Soon enough he blew his load, several strong bursts of come splattering between them and drenching their chests. Castiel arched backward as he shuddered and spasmed, screaming Dean's name among other things.

Dean managed one last thrust before he painted the pounded insides of Castiel with a few milky coats of white. He dropped back against the couch with a sigh, Castiel collapsing onto him, completely ruined.

"You're incredible," Dean hummed, his hand reaching up and running through the sweat-dampened mess on Castiel's head.

Castiel didn't respond, instead he just remained motionless pressed against his fiancé's chest, listening to the slowly steadying heartbeat. Dean smiled and slowly slipped himself free from Castiel's entrance, knowing full well there was a slow, hot mess leaking down the angel's thighs. He ignored it and curled Castiel up in his lap again, adjusting Castiel's legs to be splayed over the couch and supported his angel's upper body against himself, letting the poor thing sleep.

Dean turned the TV on, keeping it mostly on silent so as not to disturb Castiel's post-sex nap. He flipped to the Angel Watch channel where anything angelic was covered these days; he frowned at a commercial recently put up by Crystal Wings about a new product. He didn't bother paying attention to what it was, kissing Castiel softly until the program came back on. Speculation and rumours about the new tournament were obviously covered in the first few minutes though nothing new had been released yet so it was hard to cover it for very long. An image of Dean and Castiel from a month ago, when they had finished in a minor tournament, engulfed the screen for a moment. Dean smiled; looking at their dynamic on TV always seemed more epic than it did during the moment. He had to wonder who on earth had been taking those snapshots and how they always managed to get decent angles without one of them looking completely retarded. Probably Photoshop, or something.

He half listened, as their stunning victory was discussed, short clips of the most awesome moments were aired. Dean shook his head, watching the way Castiel's wings flexed at just the right angles to deflect oncoming projectiles, defending Dean with amazing agility. "I've been seriously lucky," he muttered quietly, stroking Castiel's head again. His angel saved his life more often than anyone else, in more ways than one. Without Castiel there with him Dean didn't know what he'd do, how anyone could ever give away their angel was a mystery to him, though the biggest mystery was how anyone could ever hurt their angel. Castiel was a sweetheart, a stubborn and reckless person, sure, but he had a heart of gold and would die for his loved ones. The fact that he went through so much between the societal loopholes and tournaments and asshole people proved it. Castiel put up with him, for God's sake, Dean wasn't sure how some of the time though he knew full well that Castiel was just as much in love as he was.

" _In other news, Crystal Wings has been suffering a great deal due to the recent actions of the rebel group known as the Freedom Fighters. They've had to close down several facilities after a devastating blow to their bank accounts; the only hint that anyone had hacked into the system was left on purpose, a deliberate message displayed for the company and its counterparts. We've managed to snag a recording of the video left behind, we'll play it for you shortly."_

Dean stared at the TV as the screen shifted to a 'stand-by' set up as the clip was set up. "You're kidding me?" He muttered, adjusting the volume a little to hear it as best he could.

The TV flickered for a moment but soon a silhouette appeared, a tall figure walking closer with a bright light shining behind him. From the sound of his footsteps Dean knew that there was some kind of sound scrambler on, of course there was. Why would someone who'd committed all of those destructive crimes and who had just stolen one of the biggest corporations money, show their face and clear voice in a recording? It was stupid.

" _I'm sure you know what we've done by now, what we're capable of. Our numbers have only grown in the past six years and every day there's at least ten new faces eager to join our cause. We've taken down every head office you've set up, we've destroyed every testing facility you've ever made, and we're not done yet. Your funds have been revoked, a privilege you've lost. We're more than willing to destroy you as a whole and soon we'll hand a little gift over to the public on your behalf. Because, you see, you should have been scared a long time ago."_

The video cut out, the tall and, Dean had to admit, pretty intimidating head speaker of the Freedom Fighters had gotten allowed a minor shift in the light to reveal a knowing and devious smirk. Dean shuddered and turn the TV down again, what on earth could those psychopaths be planning? What were they accomplishing by blowing up one mega company? There'd be more to take its place, or at least there would have been. Dean figured that he and Castiel had been shifting some important worldly opinions in the past few years.

"That was a little frightening," Castiel lifted his head, a gentle wave of his hand and draft over their bodies told Dean that Castiel had cleaned off the sexual mess, apparently not in the mood for a shower at that point.

"It was," Dean kissed Castiel's cheek, "But what can we do about it? They're kind of… crazy."

"Yes…" Castiel stared at the TV as the woman anchor seemed to ask the same questions Dean had been puzzling over. Something about that man, the leader of the Freedom Fighters, was familiar, "I kind of like him though."

"Seriously?" Dean stared with disbelief, "You're kidding, he's a murderer."

"From what I've heard they've actually evacuated every human from the buildings they've destroyed, if there were any inside at the time. There are several videos online from people who were inside when the Freedom Fighters arrived, apparently they'd been forced out and tied down until the rebels' plan had been carried out. Very interesting, you should watch some of them some time." Castiel reasoned calmly, "And he's attacking places that are killing my brothers, I like him."

Dean couldn't argue with Castiel, it was one he wouldn't win anyway. "I just don't like how they're going about it." He sighed.

Castiel nodded, "Yes, well he's doing it one way and we're trying another. We have nothing to do with one another so let's just see who's scenario plays out better." He nuzzled Dean's cheek decidedly and started to stretch. "Let's go for a walk," he nearly purred, pawing at Dean's face.

"You sure? People like to harass us out there." Dean smiled though he already knew that he'd go, how could he ever say no to Castiel?

"I don't mind, I just want to walk with you." Castiel smiled, a bright sort of twinkle in his eyes. "Please?"

"Of course, anything you want." Dean started to get up, "Where'd you put my clothes?"

Castiel giggled and hurried up the stairs only moments before Dean bounded after him, slapping at the naked rear end in his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel pulled on the concealing mask as instructed though he really didn't need to be told. He looked up just in time to catch the determined expression carved into Sam's rugged features before the young man covered his face with his pointedly altered mask. Gabriel and Sam's masks were different than everyone else's though, since the Freedom Fighters had started up, the generic FF mask had actually been redesigned for better use. The outfit had originally consisted of wearing dark clothing and ski-masks but now, after having the resources and people to do it, their get ups were actually pretty damn neat, Gabriel had to admit. Though mostly he just loved seeing Sam in it.

Those broad, proud shoulders with the group's insignia on his right bicep, a winged crest with subtle hints at unbinding magic in the wing design. An Enochian symbol, meaning savior, had been etched into the other open badge on Sam's left shoulder, a task done by Gabriel himself. Sam hadn't asked what it meant, full trust that Gabriel wouldn't be an ass about that much, at least. The coat was a little longer and had almost a military-esque fashion about it in, mostly in the chest-area's design. Everyone wore the same types of pants and steel-toed boots, each were allowed their own styled gloves as long as they weren't cut-offs. Sam went for the basic leather though there were metal studs along his knuckles.

"Gabriel," Sam's voice disrupted his lingering gaze on Sam in that outfit and he had to look up, at attention.

"Yeah?"

"I asked if you were ready?" Sam urged, his tone a little softer this time.

Gabriel smiled, even though the nature of the tinted eye-sockets on their masks shielded Sam's eyes from his view, he knew that Sam was currently expression concern through his gaze. It was hinted at in his voice but seeing Sam's eyes, the things that practically spoke volumes for him on their own, was the only good way to judge his intent. "I'm good, sorry about that. Just checking you out."

Sam sighed and moved to the exit doors of the truck, "Okay, we're in position at the back of the mall; remember that we're not only here to drop a few things off but I wanted to make sure that they know hiding in a mall doesn't work either." He looked along the masked individuals quickly, making sure that he wouldn't be able to identify any of them at a glance, "We've all gone through the briefing on this one, it's pretty simple but I want to remind you of the time limit. Ten minutes, we go in, do what jobs our teams were given, and get back in the truck before the authorities arrive. We're doing this midday so there will be a lot of people around, don't let them get in your way because we won't have time for a head count before we leave."

Everyone nods quickly. Sam returned with a quick nod of his head as well. "Another thing; angels, are you wearing the collars given to you?"

Specific heads nod, their hands reaching up and touching the slender bands around their necks. "Good, remember that those are made specially and though we're pretty sure they work I still want you to be careful, we don't need to lose you during something this small scale." He lifted the mask with a smile for them, "And last thing before we bust in there; this will be our first public appearance so let's at least try to look professional. I want those angel-enslaving bastards to be a little scared, at least."

The team shouts in response and with that Sam pulls his mask back down and unlocks the door.

* * *

"Why are we even here?" Dean rolled his eyes, watching the eager way Castiel inspected different trinkets in a gadget shop, one of those silly gizmo stores that sold useless junk though most of the time it looked kind of cool.

"Because fuck you, that's why." Castiel murmured in return, picking up another item and looking at it carefully. "Why are you in such a hurry? We're not doing anything today, why can't I browse for a while?"

Dean shrugged and kissed down Castiel's neck, "Maybe it's because of all the stares you're getting. I'm jealous."

Castiel chuckled and kissed him back, "You're ridiculous, no one looks at me the way you do."

Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel's waist and pulled him a little closer, the angel's back pressed against his chest, "What's so fascinating about those little gizmos anyway? I'm right here, pay attention to me."

"You're always right there, give me a minute to look at stuff that isn't." Castiel smiled playfully.

"Shouldn't take me for granted like that," Dean warned with a laugh, his fingers tensing on Castiel's hips, "I may have to do something about it." He pinched a few times, getting the little jumps that he wanted.

"Quit it," Castiel laughed, trying to keep composure.

Dean's eyes widened, "Quit it? Really? That's all you got?" He started tickling his angel, a loud and unsuspecting squeal nearly cracked the glass in the whole mall. Castiel thrashed about; dropping the thing he was holding to turn back toward Dean.

"Okay, okay!" He cried, squirming and shoving Dean, "You win, stop!"

Dean laughed and let him go, watching Castiel gasp and try to regain some dignity. "Can we get some food now? I'm starving."

Castiel nodded, "Yeah, me too."

The sound of an alarm made them both jump, the mall's security system was on the fritz, or so that's how it sounded. Castiel rushed out of the store and onto the second floor of the mall, hurrying to the walkway's edge. A large number of people in uniform ran through the crowds of people, some of them stopping to hand something over while others ran forward with some kind of mission.

"What the hell?" Dean furrowed his brow but it didn't take a genius to recognize them, the Freedom Fighters. They were on the news all the time and if someone didn't know them then that person was a secluded hermit, a baby, or a senile old man.

"Freedom Fighters… Isn't there a Crystal Wings store in this mall?" Castiel looked up at Dean who nodded. Castiel's gaze shifted between Dean's left and right eyes for a moment before he started running in the store's direction.

"Cas!" Dean shouted but booked it after him. "Where are you going? What do you think you're going to do!"

"Come on!" Castiel called over his shoulder and leapt off the walkway, landing with a solid thud on the floor below. Several years ago Dean would said 'hell nah' after that and found a staircase, but this Dean had been working out and fighting for five to six years, this was nothing compared to some of the arenas he'd been in. Dean stepped up onto the railing and leapt off it, hit the ground running.

"Damn it, Cas." He growled out, avoiding the masses, some oblivious, some running away for fear of being blown up, and some running toward the store like Castiel. When he got there he saw his angel standing in the crowd, he wasn't sure how exactly he spotted Castiel from behind so easily but he wasn't going to really question it at this point, probably the bond thing.

The store had been destroyed, everything inside had either been destroyed or stolen to be destroyed somewhere else, somewhere safer to blow it up. The Freedom Fighters had gone in there, done what they'd intended to and left in an efficient and surprisingly quick manner. Dean had stayed further back in the crowd, not wanting to get caught in the mess of limbs and people on their tiptoes trying to see. He could hear that the rebels were basically finished and moving out, though the crowd dispersing widely helped a lot.

The Freedom Fighter team that had gone into the store was mostly gone though the stragglers apparently had a job of their own, to distribute discs to the public. They handed a few out as they ran by, knowing full well that the authorities were well on their way. One of them slowed down, he was tall and built pretty damn solid, and staring right at Dean. The Winchester wanted to step back but something in him said 'stand your ground, you're on the same side.' Of course, Dean wanted to say something to this guy, this guy who was pausing his escape and looking at him. Dean had to wonder, was on he on a recruitment list or something?

"BOSS!" A shorter guy shouted, catching the giant's attention. "Get moving! Your last words, remember? No head counts!"

The man nodded and turned to keep moving though he couldn't help but look at the shorter male and nodded once, "Later, Dean." He said as he bolted, those long legs carrying him further, faster, catching him up to his crew in no time.

Dean stared after the Freedom Fighters; his mind's wheel turning like there was no tomorrow. That was the leader of the most violent rebel group in America, and he knew Dean's name. "That voice…" Dean could hear it clear enough through the mask, granted the alarms didn't help much, but he swore he could recognize it. His eyes widened, "No…"

Castiel walked up beside him and stared at him cautiously, "Dean?"

"Cas I want you to fly after them, carry me over to where their get away vehicles are!" Dean said urgently, though even without the distressed tone, the wide eyes, and everything else, Castiel could tell it was serious. Dean never asked him to fly, especially while carrying Dean.

Without another word Castiel grabbed Dean's arm and took off, in seconds they were outside the mall where the last truck was closing its doors. "SAM!" Dean shouted, running forward as the vehicle started pulling away. The same masked man sat in the front seat; his hand slowly lifted up and gave a wave as they drove off. "SAM!" Dean screamed again, his throat starting to go hoarse from the force of it.

Castiel stared, his eyes starting to water as he watched the truck pull away, "That was… Sam?" He asked softly, remembering the young teenager who'd offered him a blanket to cover himself, the first human to ever show him respect. "He's the leader of the Freedom Fighters… That kind of makes sense…"

Dean shook his head, "Can we follow them?"

Castiel shook his head, "We could but if he'd wanted to talk to us he would have," he looked over at Dean sadly, "We should leave him…"

"Cas, I-!" Dean stopped and ran a hand down his face in frustration, "That's my little brother, I haven't seen him in years, why can't we follow him?" He spun to face Castiel who had lowered his head to look away, his body language somewhat closed off.

"I… Don't think it's a good idea, Dean. That's all…" He muttered, "He's safe, that's all we can ask for."

Dean stared at Castiel for a moment, bewildered but mostly just hurt that Sam didn't stop. Though how could he? He was the friggin' leader of the Freedom Fighters, if he'd stayed he wouldn't be given the time of day by the police one way or another. "Sammy…" Dean looked back to where he saw the truck disappear, "What the hell are you thinking?"

* * *

"You okay?" Gabriel turned a worried eye to Sam who sat in silence, unmoving and looking out the window.

"That was my brother…" Sam turned toward Gabriel, he'd pull the mask off but so far as they knew, the police would be hunting them and it'd be pretty dumb to let them see his face before they'd ditched the truck. "Dean was there, with Cas."

"Castiel, huh?" Gabriel nodded and leaned back again, his eyes skimming over the scenery they were passing, his mind trailing back a little further. "He was pretty epic in the tournaments."

"He never should have been in them," Sam snarled and looked out the passenger window bitterly, "It's better I don't see them right now, it won't help anything."

Gabriel nodded again, slower and more thoughtful before putting a hand on Sam's shoulder, "Don't worry about it so much, alright? Whatever happens happens. We can't control what those two do and even if Dean recognized it was you, so what right? We've been at this for years, you left them behind because none of them listened to you."

Sam looked at him and though Gabriel couldn't see his face he could feel the little tug in his chest, they shared this feeling for the same reason, it would be nice to see their siblings again. Gabriel wasn't as close to Castiel as Sam had been to Dean but thanks to their connection Gabriel couldn't help but feel a little down about it.

"We'll talk more later." Gabriel decided and gave his partner a thumbs up since smiling didn't make a difference at that moment.


	5. Chapter 5

"So… you're pretty upset, then?" Gabriel followed Sam into their room; the long-legged leader barely slowed his steps after he got out of the truck. Sam kept the mask on until he managed to close the door, Gabriel flying past it regardless so to him a closed door meant pretty much nothing.

Sam threw the mask down onto the floor and ran two hands up his face and into his hair, Gabriel noted that both hands went into that thick, shaggy mop of brown, that usually meant extra upset. Sam turned reddened eyes toward his angel, frustration deeply seated in them along with the threat of tears.

"Whoa, whoa," Gabriel hushed his voice and made sure to take on a more calming tone, "What's wrong?"

"I… I don't know," Sam sat down on the bed and hunched forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands supporting his head. He wiped his face again and sniffled once for good measure, "I just didn't expect to see them."

"You miss him," Gabriel climbed onto the bed behind Sam and started rubbing his shoulders sensitively, "There's nothing wrong with that, Sam."

Sam sighed heavily and shook his head, hair flopping back and forth, "Then why do I feel so bad?"

"You let them think you were either kidnapped or whatever, they had no idea if you were safe or not and that means Dean too. You know your brother pretty well, what would he do after finding out you were missing?" Gabriel asked casually, putting a little extra magic in his fingertips to help pull Sam back from the 'I'm so stressed out!' feeling.

"He'd probably go looking for me until he found a body, living or dead…" Sam sighed even heavier the second time, "Which means I put him through five years of hell…"

"It isn't your fault Dean's like that, you know." Gabriel leaned around Sam's back and looked at his face. "And plus you left because he went to the tournament anyway, forcing precious Cas to fight and all that. You were right to leave, no one took you seriously there."

Sam nodded, "I guess… I should have at least told him I wasn't dead."

"But then he'd ask questions and all the 'why's that you'd get. I'm telling you, this was the most painless way to go about it."

"I'm not so sure." Sam inhaled slowly and turned around, looking up at the archangel kneeling in front of him. "I miss him, I wish he could be here with me."

"Just give it time, Sam. Things will work out one way or another." Gabriel smiled and brushed some hair away from those large puppy-dog eyes. It was hard to believe how small Sam used to be compared to the tall, gorgeous model-type that he'd become. "You were such a dopey little kid," Gabriel chuckled.

Sam smiled and shoved him a little, "Shut up," he laughed lightly, "No one asked you."

Gabriel reached over and took Sam's face in his hands, "But you know, you're beautiful now." He said softly, watching the joking expression slowly drain from Sam's face. Hazel eyes quickly shifted focus between Gabriel's, clearly Sam wasn't sure how to react to this. "I always thought so but you were pretty young."

Sam blushed and tried to look away but Gabriel refused to let go, "Gabriel…" Sam said softly, very aware of how warm his face had gotten. "I know you always tried to be perverted with me… Was there anything other than that?"

Gabriel didn't flinch by that, knowing full well what kind of reputation he'd made for himself in the few years of knowing Sam. He hadn't wanted Sam to focus on anything other than the cause and the best way to do that and show that he still liked Sam was by coming on to him and several others along the way. "Sam, there was always something other than that. After we made that connection and we did it so easily, I was in awe. I'd heard that it takes a while most of the time but you and I just sort of… did it without even thinking much. In fact I don't think you were even thinking."

"You fondled me." Sam said plainly.

"True, but you loved it." Gabriel smiled, "Thing is, I only acted that way toward you because you did exactly what I had expected. You were looking for respect and more than just what it looked like I was offering, so in other words you didn't focus on our relationship and instead on the job you'd set out to do. You're older now and a lot more settled into what you're here for, so I'll just come out and say it." Gabriel leaned forward and kissed Sam, lips pushed together until his tongue slipped out and into Sam's mouth.

Sam moaned lightly, feeling a spark between them as their tongues danced together. He didn't even notice when Gabriel had pulled him closer, his mind lost in the connection he hadn't realized that they'd made.

Gabriel leaned back; a thin string of saliva broke as their lips parted. He'd lowered Sam toward the bed, cradled in his arms in a way that he wouldn't have thought possible considering the young man's size. He looked over the blushing and expecting face of the once 14-year-old boy he'd rudely woken up that night. Gabriel smiled and held Sam a little closer. "I love you, Sam."

Sam's eyes widened, he had expected it and yet not at all at the same time. His mouth opened though he didn't know what to say, not at first. His heart skipped a beat, he knew because he could hear it pounding in his head and the beats were uneven, rapid and uneven. "I…" he licked his lips to wet the growing dryness and swallowed once, "I love you too."

Gabriel smiled and kissed Sam again, his hand sliding down the front of Sam's uniform, fingers trailing across each button and crease until he'd reached Sam's pants. Gabriel flicked his wrist and in moments his human's shirt had been popped open to reveal a smooth, bare chest. Sam shuddered from the sudden breeze but continued the kiss uninterrupted. He'd ignored his libido all throughout the roughest moments of his teenaged years. He was going to be twenty soon enough, a month or two off, he deserved a little relief once in a while.

Gabriel moaned lightly as he got the chance to finally touch the body he'd been looking after for so long, Sam gasped when his archangel's fingers found the hardened nubs of skin on his chest, rubbing them insistently. Gabriel lowered Sam the rest of the way onto their sheets, perched over him and glared down at the clothes that Sam was still wearing. "That won't do." Gabriel smiled and with another little movement of his hand, the clothes were off, dropped to the floor with an almost silent thump.

Sam looked up with wide eyes; he'd never really been totally naked and vulnerable like this with anyone, not in reality anyway. Their connection was different, he felt safe there, like it didn't matter what other people did because he had Gabriel and that was all that mattered. Here, it was as if anyone could take his angel away, could hurt either of them. But mostly he was aware of himself, his own nakedness and how obvious every little flaw was, how Gabriel could see it. Sam knew it was possible for people to hurt them but that was true in every aspect of life, letting someone in, though… That scared him. To let someone in, to let them know him and how far he'd go…

"Shh," Gabriel cupped Sam's cheek gently; his thumb brushing over the side burns that Sam seemed to enjoy growing. "I already know you, Sam. And I already love you, there's no reason you should feel so self-conscious. I think you're gorgeous physically and I fell in love with the mind and soul I've come to know, why are you scared?"

"I… I don't want to let you down… I don't want to let anyone down." Sam looked away, feeling a little embarrassed, "I want to do what's right but people don't listen to reason, I learned that after living with bigots like my dad and Dean. Did you know my mom still prays? I don't even know who she thinks she's talking to! I'm doing it this way because they need to pay for what they've done, they need to be forced to stop because they won't listen…"

Gabriel's face lit up, he finally understood. "You feel bad about how we've been doing things? The violence and aggression, blowing stuff up and stealing and all that?"

Sam nodded slightly, "Yeah… I never wanted to be a criminal, I wanted to be a lawyer but… I just couldn't let all of this happen. I thought, 'if people don't start doing something about this it'll never change.' Then I realized that I was just like them, sitting there and waiting for someone else to start it, so I started it. Little things didn't make a difference, telling people didn't work, no one would give me the time of day with the normal, civil approach." He wanted to pull away but again, Gabriel's grip was much stronger than he was.

"I can't believe I didn't notice before," Gabriel whispered, "I really am an idiot."

"What?" Sam asked tentatively, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Your soul, it's so… gentle. Everything you've been doing goes against your nature, no wonder you always seem off." Gabriel shook his head; "I wish I could find a solution for it…"

Sam blinked a few times, taking a moment to make sure Gabriel wasn't joking though part of him could already tell. "I'll be fine, you know. I just… wasn't expecting Dean today. I know what kind of guy he is, he doesn't agree with the Freedom Fighters, I'm sure of it. He agrees with our position but not our tactics…"

"Well fuck him," Gabriel spat. "He can go and do his weird little political dance but as far as I'm concerned those two are just celebrities, jumping through societal hoops and hoping to get the time of day. We take it, we say when we're heard and today I think we made a big difference with that footage."

Sam smiled, feeling and looking a little better. "Yeah, you're right. What we've done… we've saved and rescued angels, some of which have joined our cause and others have gone into hiding. None of them have been re-caught by Crystal Wings, as far as I know so that's all we can hope for, for the time being. We're doing good things and that's feels right."

Gabriel nodded and kissed down Sam's chest, "Good boy," he reached Sam's nipple again and sucked it into his mouth, pinching it gently between his teeth as his tongue danced over it. Sam hissed and exhaled excitedly, fingers digging into the sheets, looking for something to cling to.

"G-Gabriel!" he whined exasperatedly as his angel sucked harder, tongue pressing down against it and flicking over it faster.

Gabriel chuckled a little, moving over to the other side of Sam's chest, "This one too." He said before doing the same thing, his hand deceptively hovering above the growing lump of nerves between Sam's legs. Sam was clearly preoccupied with the new sensations and Gabriel would bet dollars to donuts that the young man wouldn't be prepared for something familiar though Gabriel had only ever really fondled him once.

He was right. As soon as his warm hand came into contact with Sam's throbbing cock a loud and unsuspecting cry shot through the room. Sam thrust upward into the touch, his body begging for more though he could moan in the ways of making words properly. Gabriel didn't need to be able to understand Sam's spoken language to know what he was aching for. "You're getting pretty hot and bothered, aren't you?"

Sam nodded, his eyes drifting up toward Gabriel's face, almost all hints of hazel lost in that dark, lustful stare. He moaned loudly when his angel started stroking him harder and faster, his hips jerking up again in hopes of a stronger and more intimate feeling.

"Fuck, Sammy… You dirty little thing." Gabriel smiled, watching the way Sam's legs and toes curled in, "Tell me you like it."

Sam gasped and whimpered when he couldn't form words properly, oblivious to the lube Gabriel snapped up out of thin air and had already coated on his fingers. "Say it, baby. Tell me you want it." Sam uttered something that sounded similar though it had been lost among moans and soft mewling, fairly incomprehensible. Gabriel shook his head and pushed a finger in, getting a much clearer sound from his owner.

"Fuck!" Sam's body arched until he was on his shoulder blades, he hadn't expected the penetration and it hurt a little. It felt like a burning stinging sensation all around his anus, like Gabriel's finger had made a ring of hot, reddened skin appear where Sam hadn't been aware of it before.

Gabriel moved slowly, hushing Sam's violent reaction until Sam was on his back again, legs spread open wide to allow better access, slipping in a second finger. It wasn't as alarming to Sam this time though he did whine briefly. He was starting to get used to it, the feeling of something prodding along at his insides, the feeling that he and Gabriel were connected in more ways than one.

After scissoring is fingers and working Sam open wider, Gabriel couldn't believe how into it Sam really was. The young man had started pushing back, pushing Gabriel's fingers in deeper, a little faster each time. His face was scrunched up in a way Gabriel recognized as frustrated pleasure, he loved the feeling and wanted more of it, and from the look of pre cum leaking from his cock, Sam was ready.

Gabriel moved between the two long, gorgeous legs he'd been eager to get between for ages. "Okay," he ran his thumb over the tip of Sam's dick to wipe up the beginning of a big mess and licked it, "Mmm, sweet…" he angled himself then, the tip of cock pushing at Sam's entrance slowly. Gabriel gauged the reaction on his partner's face to make sure he wasn't about to push his luck. Sam had tossed his head back into the pillows, rolling it from side to side just from the gentle pressure the start of Gabriel's arousal. "Before I do this, I want to hear a little dirty talk from you, Sam." He smirked, expecting the same flustered expression.

Though Sam was flustered and embarrassed to do it he didn't hesitate to play along, "Fuck me, Gabriel." He demanded as strongly as he could though his face displayed all the vulnerability he was feeling.

"That's my Sammy." Gabriel smiled even wider and pushed in, earning a long groan increasing in volume as it went.

"Gabriel!" Sam whined loudly, his hips bucking into it eagerly. He'd deprived his body of this too long; even the first thrusts where Gabriel was making sure Sam was used to it were enough to set him off. Sam's body spasmed, his muscles tensed and he jerkily found his way into an orgasm he wasn't necessarily looking for so soon.

Gabriel thrust gently a few times to rock Sam through it, a smile permanently on his lips as his partner slowly came down from a new high. "Adorable," he whispered, continuing to move and pick up the pace. He adjusted Sam's torso until he found the sweet spot he'd been angling for. Sam's eyes popped open wider and he couldn't help the cry that was ripped out of him as Gabriel started to really get into pounding that bundle of nerves. "That's it baby," Gabriel whispered as he reached between Sam's legs again, stroking the softened dick resting there, coaxing it back up.

Sam screamed louder with each connection to his prostate until his voice was wrecked, his body twitched and trembled until every muscle felt ruined, but it all felt too good. He was entirely lost in the feeling and over-sensitivity to care about anything else. It was just him and the beautiful, loving angel over him. Sam didn't dare close his eyes or look away, or at least he tried not to. Gabriel didn't stop looking down at Sam either, both taking in the sight of the man they were so closely connected to in his most vulnerable and needy state. Sam's hands, though clumsy with ecstasy, found their way around Gabriel to a position he could hold on and cling.

Gabriel shuddered into his orgasm soon after, Sam's fingers obliviously pressed into the sensitive space where Gabriel's wings would normally come from and forcing his hand, as it were. The two laid together, Sam's release coating their stomachs and chests two times over, Gabriel's slowly leaking down the back of Sam's thighs. Neither had anything to say for the moment though they didn't feel they needed it. They understood one another perfectly, at least for the time being.

Gabriel kissed Sam's forehead, his hand gently petting the mop of brown hair. "You've always been more than I bargained for," he whispered softly with a bit of a laugh.

Sam's breathing was light and shallow, a soft sigh exhaled through his nose was the most amount of movement Gabriel noticed.  _'He fell asleep… Oh well.'_  Gabriel kissed Sam's head again and held him just a little tighter, never wanting to let go of the gentle, naïve boy he'd met those years ago. "I love you, Sam." He whispered quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

What would be the best way to go about doing this? Sam stood next to his computer, watching the screen as different images of the Angel Battle system and tournaments flashed by. He needed to do something with it, considering it was the next biggest thing against angelic rights. He sighed heavily and shut the thing down before he stepped away from it, no matter how long he sat there brooding at it an answer wouldn't come to him. It was something he needed to let flow into his head, something he needed to be patient over. The tournaments and stupid fights were a big deal, he couldn't just go over there and take them down, it'd take time and strategy.

In the meantime he did have another outing planned with the Freedom Fighters, there was a sort of 'Angel Show' set up in town, it's where all the best bring their primped and proper angels to see who had the most well groomed, trained et cetera. Sam was disgusted by the thought, they weren't dogs that you parade around and make jump through hoops for entertainment. But he'd gone on this rampage a lot, no need to do it again. It was time to do something about it.

The lead truck pulled up and Sam peered out the window at the park and the pretty little things people had set up. He was a bit sad that they'd have to ditch this truck after the mission was over; he was rather fond of it even though he'd only ridden in it for a few miles. There was a lot of leg room that the other ones had been lacking, surprisingly. Though at the same time he seemed to be one of the only ones who had that problem, he was still surprised at how tall he'd gotten. Part of him wanted to call Dean up and brag about it, though he knew full well that if he'd do that then he'd also have to answer for a lot of other things that he didn't feel like arguing over.

Gabriel winced, "Oh god... Some of these poor bastards had their wings pierced."

Sam looked up and furrowed his brow at the sight, an angry glare slowly consuming his expression until he had to get out of the vehicle, mask pulled over his face. He started walking toward the park, his team starting to file out the way he'd instructed them earlier. Gabriel ran up beside him and matched his stride though he had to walk a bit faster considering the leg length thing (though damn did Gabriel love those long, gorgeous things). "Going in a little headstrong, aren't you?"

"Well like The White Stripes said, a seven nation army couldn't hold me back." Sam snarled bitterly.

"White Stripes... didn't they just remix that song?" Gabriel muttered in reply, getting a jab in the shoulder from Sam.

"Not the point, Gabriel. These people need to realize that the world doesn't revolve around their stupid little games, I need to show them." Sam felt an anger boil in him, dark and something he wasn't sure he wanted to feel.

" _That's it, Sam."_

The rumbling voice in his head made him freeze, "What?" He looked toward Gabriel who only stood and shrugged.

"What what?" Gabriel asked, "I didn't say anything."

"Oh." Sam shook his head and scrunched his face in confusion, not that anyone could see it. He started walking again when suddenly his legs felt weak and the world around him swayed violently. He closed his eyes to steady himself, feeling the inconsistencies in the ground's shift and awkward way his weight seemed to move.

" _Sam," The same voice echoed in his ears and he had to open his eyes. He could see the world of their bond, the strange space with two pathways again, like that nightmare he'd had the first time. Sam's limbs trembled, fear struck him and seemed to immobilize him, he was scared to know what was down the darker path, the one beckoning him. It kept calling his name, kept urging him closer. Someone was there, something was waiting for him, he could see the eyes lingering in the darker space. "Come here, Sam."_

_He looked at the brighter path, the one that he could see a beautiful angel sleeping angel at the end, Gabriel wasn't moving like time had been frozen on that side or something. Sam swallowed and looked toward the thundering voice, his fists clenched at his sides. He was scared, yes, but that didn't mean he shouldn't investigate. This thing disappeared last time and left him thinking it had been a nightmare. Five years later it came back, just sort of lurking there, and he wasn't about to pass it up. Sam took a deep breath and walked closer, he locked eyes with the looming thing until the ground beneath him shook._

_Sam's gaze snapped down to see hundreds and thousands of angels marching again, chains clasped around their limbs and wings and slowing their depressed march. He felt his gut wrench at the sight and he had to look to see if Gabriel was still down the other path though his view was obstructed now. "Gabriel..." Sam muttered and looked back down, his eyes scanning the different angels until he saw one he recognized._

" _I'm glad you came back, Sam." The smooth tone of the voice sent a shiver down Sam's spine, a hand snaked around his waist, fingers trailed along the creased line of his hip just low enough to get a light gasp out of him._

" _Who are you?" Sam tried to pull away but there was no sign that this being was about to move, not even a little. His head was tilted back, another hand stroked his jaw and slid down his throat to his chest, Sam struggled to move but found he no longer could. He stifled a moan when the first hand took a firm hold on his cock, thumb stroking up the shaft carefully, like it was studying the feeling._

" _It's okay to like it, Sam. I'm your angel, after all." The origin of the voice was behind him now, speaking into his ear with something of a beautiful venom lingering in it. Sam couldn't help the shivers that shook his muscles and caused another light groan in his throat which only came out in a louder, more expressive volume when this mystery man gave a solid stroke to already aching dick._

" _Stop..." Sam whined and quickly cleared his throat to try and adjust the impression he was making, "You aren't Gabriel, how could you be my angel?"_

" _The one you were born to have," the response sent another shudder through him, a tongue trailed down his jaw line then back up to his ear to further the odd feeling. "Just relax and let me do this, strong bonds are important you know."_

_Sam struggled again, "No, stop! Who are you?" He strained to turn his head to see when suddenly his face was grabbed violently and wrenched him around to see for a brief moment a monster from his worst nightmares. He opened his mouth to scream but he was pulled forward again, his mouth taken over by the thing in front of him and his scream swallowed whole. Sam pushed and fought to be freed but the harder he tried the held down._

" _Hey, look at me."_

_Sam opened the eyes he'd thought he'd never closed, "What...?" He stared into the face of the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and suddenly his body relaxed. "What just..."_

" _You have to be careful here, you know. Fears can take over your mind in a heartbeat if you don't keep them in check." Several large and magnificent wings flowed behind the being, his hands touching Sam's face so gently he wasn't sure if they were even there._

" _Who are you?" Sam muttered, not even realizing that the strange heaviness of the area was still lingering on him. How could anyone notice that with something like this right in front of them?_

" _My name's Lucifer." He spoke so elegantly it was mesmerizing, his thumb brushed over Sam's lips in a way that nearly made him close his eyes quietly and listen absently. Nearly. Sam's mind skipped a track and he had to stumble back to the name._

" _Lucifer! Like the devil?" Sam stepped backward, his eyes widened further than he would have thought possible._

" _Please, your word, not mine." Lucifer smiled and drifted closer again, placing hands on Sam's shoulders and gently persuading the young man back to him. "Humans, you always seem to forget that I am an angel, as well." His hands slipped off of Sam and he took a step or two back. "I've seen what's been going on and I'm tired of it."_

_Sam swallowed whatever fear had been dwelling in him, he needed more people on his side and if Lucifer, one of the strongest archangels in history, wanted to join him? He wasn't going to say no. "So... what did you plan on doing?"_

" _Well first you need to get me," Lucifer waved a hand and a portal opened up behind him, an image of a gate appearing inside it. "You're the only one who can do it, just go here and we'll work it out after that."_

" _Where is that?" Sam squinted, staring at the gates carefully._

" _You'll know, just go." Lucifer smiled and waved Sam on and the heavy feeling started to weigh him down again while a force seemed to pull him backward. The pull became stronger and stronger, his feet dragged along the ground and his hair blew backward._

_Sam strained to stay, "Wait! Lucifer!"_

_As everything got to be too much and Sam hurdled further and further away, he could hear the start of a laugh that was swiftly cut short. His mind struggled to understand what kind of chuckle it had been, whether he should be concerned or if it was Lucifer at all. The attempts of his mind were too cut short, darkness encroached quickly and before Sam knew it he'd blacked out._

_Sam felt like he was floating, his limbs were drifting in space in a sort of quiet subtlety that he could enjoy for a moment. It was soft, slow, and yet at the same time very uncomfortable. He couldn't lift his arms or shift his legs, his head remained in the same position and his neck felt like it would strain. But at the same time his body didn't feel as though he were on the ground, like it was suspended on something, maybe by wires on his wrists and ankles. This sensation of floating persisted for a while; he heard the sound of rushing fluids and reconsidered the suspended theory he was running with and went for more of a 'floating in water' thing._

"HEY!" Gabriel's voice shattered the muffled rushing sounds and suddenly he could hear the wind, other people's mutterings, traffic and the stupid sounds of the Angel Show in the nearby park.

' _That's right, the park...'_  He thought slowly, his eyes heavily blinking open.

"Wake up!" Gabriel shook him, something was off in his angel's voice; fear, terror, pain maybe? Sam attempted to get a hold of himself.

"I'm okay..." Sam muttered drowsily as he tried to sit up, he realized that he was nestled in Gabriel's lap and held close to the angel's chest.

"Thank god!" Gabriel curled Sam against him, he kissed the top of his partner's head and rocked them back and forth for a moment. "You just... fell over. I couldn't..." He inhaled shakily and sobbed once, his grip tightened just enough to pin Sam in place, "I couldn't feel you anymore, I thought you were... I was scared that you-"

"I'm okay, Gabriel." Sam reached up and touched his angel's face, finding that it was wet, "Don't cry, okay?" He whispered softly.

Gabriel nodded and just buried his face into Sam's hair, trying to hide his sniffling. He sat like that for a moment, not letting Sam move until he decided to scoop the young man up. It looked odd, someone as big as Sam being so easily carried, but Gabriel didn't care. "You guys can carry out the plan without us, you already know what to do." The archangel demanded, a tone Sam hadn't ever heard him take.

"Gabriel, I-"

"No, we're sitting this one out, good luck guys." With that he took to the skies, a burst of wind in his wake.

"Gabriel, no!" Sam pulled free though it was too late; he stumbled to the floor of his bedroom and turned around to face his angel. "We were there to do a job; we can't back out just because I fainted for a few minutes!"

Gabriel shook his head, "Enough, okay? I just want you to be safe, can we just sit here? Please?"

Sam stopped and watched the desperate look in Gabriel's eyes, "I..." He sighed, "I'm sorry, Gabriel. I didn't think you were so upset about it."

"Well I am, okay?" Gabriel dropped onto the bed and hung his head, "I panicked... And you weren't out for just a few minutes, it was almost an hour."

Sam knelt down in front of Gabriel, a lollipop in one hand held out into his angel's vision, "An hour, huh?" He whispered, watching the little sparkle in Gabriel's eye when he recognized the candy.

"Yeah," he smiled and took the offer from Sam, their fingers brushed past one another's in a gentle touch. "It was just...awful. What happened? Where did you go?"

"Our bond..." Sam stood up again and crossed his arms, "There were two paths there again."

"Again? You mean like that nightmare you told me about?" Gabriel looked up, still riddled with concern.

"Yeah, and I saw what was at the other end this time... I remember it." Sam flinched as he spoke, the image of the gate flashing and burning behind his retinas. "Ah..." He hissed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his head throbbing viciously.

"Sam?" Gabriel stood immediately, going to his partner's side and helping him stand, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"It was Lucifer." Sam looked up, his brow furrowed anxiously, "Lucifer wants me to go to him."

Gabriel stared in awe, "What? Why?"

"He wants to help free the others..." Sam rubbed his temples as the thundering headache slowed down. "I... I know where I have to go, we should go now."

"Sam, let's think about this first. Look what he did to you already! Lucifer's not exactly easy to control, okay? He's the devil, Satan, the big guy downstairs."

"In speaking of downstairs, why haven't we seen any demons?" Sam asked curiously, heading for the door.

"First, don't change the subject. Second, we don't notice them because they're damn good at hiding. They saw what humans did to us, demons aren't exactly stronger than us and they're actually a lot easier to trap. They're staying down, possibly hiding out among people; I think I've seen a few actually. Whatever the reason they haven't done anything doesn't matter though, Lucifer's not someone to take lightly. I would rather talk to him before you free him."

"I don't know how it'll work but I think we should do it." Sam was already half way down the hall as he spoke, his mind already made up.

Gabriel stared after him and shook his head, "Sam..." He knew Sam wasn't thinking straight, what could he do really? Lucifer was somewhere in Sam's mind, going after his older brother was possibly more deadly than anything else he could possibly do at this point. Gabriel cursed himself for the weakness but still did nothing and instead followed Sam to the gates holding the archangel, Lucifer.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll have to put a warning here there's a bit of graphic stuff ahead, not sure how sensitive you are so this is a just in case thing so I can say you've been warned.

"So over all we have to ask ourselves, what are angels really? Who are they? And what should they be to us as a whole? Humankind has treated these beings unfairly and very poorly, as has been shown to us over and over again in the last six years, ever since we all first heard the name Castiel. He's stood up in front of hundreds of people, thousands even millions as we've all watched the tournaments. Everyone has sat wondering what he'll say to us or if he'll even bother to say anything. I remember last year, a small tournament that had gotten a lot of attention from the press and everyone was excited to see that Dean and Castiel would fight in it. As the first match was started and the rules were spoken by the announcer for the first time it became known that for this tournament the angels would have a new uniform; nothing. They were supposed to fight naked. Now, what happened next is actually my favourite part of that tournament; Castiel shook his head and walked out of the ring. He and Dean didn't say a single word and walked right out of that stadium. Correct me if I'm wrong but that, that right there is what I call admirable."

Castiel smiled, "Someone noticed." He said as he lowered the volume on the TV, glancing over at Dean who sat with that brooding look on his face. "Dean?"

Dean shook his head, "It's nothing, sorry. I just..."

"Sam?"

"Yeah." He ran a hand down his face tiredly, "They assaulted an event at a park last week, a friggin' park! I mean what the hell is he thinking!"

"From what I recall it was a sort of dog show except with angels," Castiel countered, "And no one died, a lot of people were scared out of their wits though."

"It's not okay, regardless of what those people were doing." Dean frowned, "Innocent people were there-"

"Innocence isn't real, Dean." Castiel scoffed as he stood, a darker look on his face than usual, "Those people were all taking part in a horrible, discriminating act against me and my brothers. All of them, regardless of age, are responsible for their actions, how they think now and how they'll think in the future. It's all relevant and even though Sam isn't right he isn't wrong, either." He pointed at the TV in frustration, "Do you know what I see here? They get undeniable results, people have rallied together; have rioted in the name of the Freedom Fighters. What have we done in the same amount of time? I might get noticed when I refuse to fight in a tournament! It's no contest, Dean! They're getting somewhere, being that reckless and that drastic wins over more people faster than what we're doing!"

"But at least we haven't hurt anyone else during our process." Dean stood up and matched the shout that Castiel had reached, "If we hurt other humans we're just as bad as they've been." He shook his head, "And they're in the process of something still, remember those disks they handed out at the mall? I still don't know what they were planning with them."

"It was a video," Castiel looked away, "I'd read somewhere that the disk contained a video and soon it's going to go viral. Not many people have seen it yet but I hear it will happen soon." He shook his head, "I'm scared to know what's in that video..."

Dean nodded and walked over to Castiel's side, "It'll be alright, I'm sure the video can't be that bad."

Castiel sighed, "Yeah, okay... But I just..." He furrowed his brow and paced around the room, his hands running through his hair anxiously, "I read a rumour that it was about the testing facilities... Do you think... what if it's something terrible?"

"Then the world has no choice but to see what they've done." Dean walked over to Castiel again and pulled him into a hug, "And how about I watch it first and tell you whether or not you should see it?"

"No," Castiel muttered into Dean's shirt, "If you watch it then I have to as well, I can't let you and then avoid it myself..."

Dean nodded, "Alright, we'll do it together, like everything else. Sounds good?"

"Yes." His angel answered meekly, his anxiety and nerves tiring him out more than he needed to be.

Dean rubbed Castiel's back comfortingly, "If it makes you feel any better we got more fan mail today."

Castiel laughed a little, "Yeah... reading that usually makes me feel better." He smiled up at Dean and went toward the place they kept their mail when his ears started to burn, the television catching his attention again.

"Apparently we've just received that video that a few people had been given copies of, the one from the Freedom Fighters." The earlier show had been disrupted, the same man was speaking now but he was wearing different clothes, something that indicated it was a different day and this was a live interruption. "We're going to play it for you live for the first time; the Freedom Fighters requested it in an email so we want to do them a favour and air it the way they intended."

Castiel hurried over to the couch, Dean following swiftly and held his fiancé's hand as they sat down together to watch. Castiel looked at Dean nervously, his guts wrenching over and over as he tried to prepare himself for what he was about to see.

The camera shifted and showed the same silhouette, the one Dean now knew to be Sam, the same one belonging to the leader of the Freedom Fighters. "Hello," his voice hadn't been scrambled this time, Dean could hear it clearly now. "I want to show you something today and no matter how bad it gets I don't want you to look away. This is something that the Freedom Fighters and I have witnessed throughout our endeavours, something that I never want to see again but it keeps coming up. Some of you refuse to listen to Castiel and Dean; you don't care what an angel says to you even if it makes sense, even if he is a beautiful, living creature who has the same life lessons to learn. Well for those of you who need a human's hand to push you, here I am."

The light behind him vanished and every detail of Sam was visible, his eyes were sharper than ever and he'd grown up more than Dean had expected in the last six years since he'd seen his little brother. "Sam..." Dean squeezed Castiel's hand, speaking the same thing they'd both been thinking.

"My name is Sam Winchester and I created the Freedom Fighters, I'm a human, born in Lawrence, Kansas to a Mary and John Winchester, my older brother's name is Dean. Yes, that Dean. I was born and raised the same way any of you have been and I could see these angel capturing devices for what they were, for what they are. We have enslaved a race of people; we have put chains around their necks and forced them to do things against their wills. I was fourteen years old when I started acting up, when the Freedom Fighters first starting doing things. I look young because I am, I'm turning 20 soon and so far I've made a difference but it hasn't been big enough. I want you see the raw footage that I've put together; the only parts I've edited are the mentioning of others' names and blotting out their faces, all but mine. This is what we've done to them."

The screen blanked, Castiel could hear his heart pounding hard against his eardrums like it were ready to burst out of his skull in a completely illogical way, considering hearts don't belong in skulls. He looked at Dean again hoping he'd find some comfort though all he could see was the pained expression of an older brother who missed out on a lot.

"Who the heck are you? Get the hell out of here!" The voice of a man could be heard first as the cameraman remembered to remove the lens cap. The scene unfolded quickly, a man and several others were standing around a naked, winged being. The angel was bent over, her limbs bound and hooks pierced through her wings to keep her upright. Blood had trailed down from the white feathers, one of the wings looked to be dislocated judging from the way it jut out of the angel's back. Her face wasn't bruised but it was dirty with anything identifiable and more, her eyes, for the brief second that they had a glimpse, were dark and tormented.

The Freedom Fighters dealt with these men off camera while the people with coverage went closer, Sam being the first by the angel's side along with one other person, the other person's face had been blocked as promised. "Are you okay?" Sam had asked, his face looked tormented just glimpsing at the angel's expression.

"Please... Kill me..." she whimpered, tears spilled from her eyes and mixed with the filth that covered her once beautiful face. "I can't live this way." She sobbed and hung her head, the chains attached to her neck only allowing her to hang it so far.

The image cut to another scenario where the person carrying the camera was running, "Is it on?" Sam turned backward, his mask was on but Dean recognized the significant difference, "Good, I know we'll end up using this one." He'd muttered as he kicked a door open and walked inside. It was a long, spotless hallway of stainless steel and glass, enochian etched and scratched into the walls and ceiling.

Castiel covered his mouth at the sight of the symbols, "Where on earth did they learn those?" He said breathlessly, tears stinging his eyes.

The camera angled to see what was inside the thick glass walls, finding that they were actually doors to cells that could be classified as medical rooms. Angels were hooked up to different machines testing different things. After seeing several cells like this with several angels barely moving, their limbs hanging limp and disgustingly thin, they were all pale and sickly and didn't look like they'd make it out of bed. It was similar to the one Sam had seen a few years back except that one's imagery looked dirtier, closer to a dungeon set up. This one had scientific research written all over it.

"They're drugged," Sam walked out of one of the cells, holding up a liquid pack that wasn't clear to the audiences at home. "I pulled this out of one of their veins."

"They're sedatives," Another one called out, a voice that Castiel recognized.

"Gabriel." He looked at Dean as the scene played out on the screen, more and more disturbing images of torture and experiments playing out. "Sam's with the archangel Gabriel."

Dean furrowed his brow, "So angels have joined the Freedom Fighters? I guess it makes sense... But how do they keep them safe without owning them first?"

"That's probably what he did, actually. Gabriel's pretty crafty, I can't imagine that he would take this lightly, it is his safety after all." Castiel sighed and ran a hand down his face, wiping away any tears that had formed in his eyes. He didn't want to cry, this video only showed what he already knew, no need to get emotional.

A long and agonized shriek blasted out of their speakers, Sam and his team were nearly floored when it happened. The slender leader pulled himself up first and lifted his hands in a way to show he wasn't a threat, "It's okay, we're friends."

"GET AWAY FROM ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" The angel that now came into view with the camera was screaming at the top of his lungs at them, he sounded wrecked, like his voice had been shredded and put back together. There were stitches all over his body and shaved head, he was being held down to a 'bed' of stainless steel, limbs completely stuck in place. The only thing he could move was his head which he thrashed left and right. "Please!" He's voice broke down into sobs and hysterics, "Please just kill me! I don't have anything left, please!"

"We're here to free you," Sam said softly, going to the bedside and lowering a gentle hand to the angel's cheek. The cameraman this time was a good one, swerving around to get their faces and the actions done. Sam had that beautiful loving look that Castiel remembered so well, the one he knew could calm this angel, and it did.

The trapped creature was shaking, tears spilled over his cheeks and he closed his eyes thankfully. Sam smiled sadly and looked over at the person apparently in charge of picking locks.

"We taking this building out too, Sam?" It was Gabriel again.

"Yes, I don't want them to be able to use this building ever again..." Sam looked up angrily; tears were in his eyes too. He'd taken the mask off to help calm the angels they were freeing, nothing was more terrifying to an angel than a human in a mask, especially these angels. It dragged up so many question and concerns, why would they wear masks, was something going to happen that a mask was necessary? It just caused extra stress that Sam didn't think was necessary and he actively tried to avoid it.

The angel that had been held down was being helped up now, he'd turned in a way that showed his back and a hideous scar covered the skin there, carved into the mess was another symbol that Castiel couldn't look at.

Castiel let out a distressed sound, mangled and pained as he sobbed into his hand. "Cas?" Dean tried to turn his angel toward him, "What is that?"

"That symbol... they tore out his wings, with that symbol he can never heal. There's an empty space in him where they used to be..." Castiel managed to explain, still not looking back at the TV. Dean remembered the way Castiel reacted when he touched the sensitive parts of his wings, all the nerves and sensitivities in those things... It must have hurt like hell to lose them.

"Sam! Sam get over here!" Someone else shouted, a female's voice, and she sounded like she was about to vomit.

Sam had booked it down the hall after giving orders to someone else to escort that angel outside to freedom; hopefully he'd be able to heal a little from what had happened. "What is it?" Sam turned toward a differently marked room and he had to step backward, his young eyes flying open in horror. Gabriel got there just in time to catch the stumbling form of his partner.

The camera made it there and froze, "Oh man..."

The room was labelled 'Waste' and inside the mostly sealed room was a pile sitting on top of what looked like a door that could be opened. The pile consisted of bodies on top of bodies and limbs and wings, bloody and wreaking. There was a hole in the ceiling above, just like every cell contained in theirs. "They're vacuums," The female spoke first, "Each room has something to suck up the mess and it just gets dropped in here."

Sam managed to find his feet again and walked closer, "Oh god..." He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and closed his eyes; the tears that had been there were escaping down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry..." He whispered and looked up at the pile of dead angels on the floor.

"It isn't your fault, Sam." Gabriel hit a button the control panel next to the door which promptly shut in front of them and a loud sound boomed beyond it. Soon the doors opened again and Sam watched as the floor slowly closed up again, the sounds of an incinerator haunting his mind.

"How could people do this!" He looked around at his team; their heads hung a little lower in respect for the dead. "What is wrong with us!" He slammed a fist into the wall and kept walking, "Come on, there are still lower levels to this place..."

Castiel curled up against Dean, trembling and crying bitterly. "I don't want to see anymore..." he said in a tiny, whimpering voice. "Please? Please turn it off?" His hands reached up and clung to Dean's shirt desperately finding a way to hold on tighter.

"Sam asked that we watch it all..." Dean pulled Castiel into his lap and let his angel attempt to become a ball, hiding his face in Dean's chest. "I'm going to listen to him this time..." Dean pet Castiel's head and looked up at the screen again, watching the facility they were in get grungier the lower they went.

There were similar facilities down there except the warding symbols were different and it was noisier. Long and agonized moans echoed in the halls, screams and screeches mixed with the sounds of loud banging as if something were smashing into the walls repeatedly. The first thing Sam did when he looked into the first cell down there was turn away to the opposite wall and hold himself up against it, heaving and trying not to.

Dean watched carefully until the cell came into proper focus for the brief moment that the camera man could bear to look. It was only a few seconds but it was long enough to see it, the hideous form of an angel fused with another beast and possibly other angels, considering that there were several heads on this thing. It lumbered forward in a suffering step with a long, low groaning scream.

There was a bright flash of light and Gabriel's feet were seen as he walked into the cell. The ghoulish monstrosity's noises were cut short and another blinding light consumed the area entirely. "I have an odd feeling that everything on this level won't be salvageable..." Gabriel stated solemnly, "I'll look around; you guys should probably stay here."

Sam nodded slowly, "Turn the camera off." He looked up bitterly, "We've got enough."

The footage was cut off and soon it returned to Sam, his eyes cast downward as if he'd just watched it as well. "We bust into different malls around the states, not many but a few. We handed out the raw footage on DVD, not all of what you see here but different bits and pieces on each disk. It was probably too fast for some of you to see so I'd like to show you a still image of that scene." As promised a cleaned up shot from when the camera had been still, aiming right into the cage of a gruesome beast. The skin was grafted in several places, its limbs were bloated and hanging (or at least 50% of the 7). There was a main face, its jaw hung way too low for it to be natural and it didn't look like it could close at all. The eyes, one was sunken in while the other was popping out and stretched to its limit, and both were bloodshot.

Castiel glanced up, the movement causing Dean to frantically try to cover his angel's eyes but it was too late, he'd already seen it. Castiel wailed immediately, a pain from within him connected to Dean in a split second and Dean forced Castiel back against his chest, holding him as tightly as he could. Dean rocked his angel comfortingly, hoping the destroying and crushing hurt would dissipate soon. "Cas, it'll be okay, shhh, shhh," he kissed the side of his lover's head as Castiel hyperventilated and thrashed against him.

Sam's face returned to the screen after a moment of silence. "There were at least fifteen different mutations like that down there... And not just there, either. Two other facilities we did away with had similar experiments. One of them was testing to see what they could do with an angel's grace, their soul. I won't get into that since the body count was higher than I'd like to remember." He ran a hand up into his hair to brush it back, an action that made Dean's eyes water with nostalgia. "Please, can't you see what we've done? What we've become to them? They came to us with a hope that we would give them a place to live, a world that they could call home because theirs is falling apart. Instead we lock them up; we torture them and kill them. We wouldn't even treat animals this way! And these beings, they've been around since the dawn of our time, they've watched us grow and they know more than any of us ever could hope to learn. We've made a horrible mistake but we can still fix it, we can still make it right. Please, leave them be, let them go. We should have been their neighbours but instead we're their executioners and the cause of any nightmare they've dared to have."

Just then Gabriel walked onto the screen, earning a scolding look from Sam, "What? I have something to say," Gabriel looked into the camera as he stood behind Sam who clearly appeared to be sitting considering the height that Gabriel had on him. "Sam wanted to be the only one in this video but that obviously didn't happen since here I am. My name is Gabriel, the archangel. I ran to Sam for help almost 6 years ago and though he didn't want to I made sure I became his angel, to avoid being caught by Crystal Wings' goons that wanted a piece of me. He saved my life, he's saved a lot of lives and many angels have joined his team, even more humans. I don't expect you to go and drop your life set up and join us, I don't think you'll go and commit an act of terrorism and blow up a building. I just want to ask you to stop and just look at me, would you have known what I am if I hadn't told you my name or anything? Would you know an angel on the street if they weren't wearing a collar? Think about that." He smiled and leaned down to kiss Sam's cheek. "Oh! And for you law enforcement guys, I know you only see this as a 'they're criminals' sort of way so I'll just put this out there; you can't bring in a guy who has an archangel on his team so don't waste your energy. I'll keep busting him out and healing him and stuff so save your time and resources."

Sam had rolled his eyes just before the camera cut out and back to new anchor who just stared with reddened eyes at his monitor. He was quiet for a moment and wiped his face, "Ladies and gentlemen... I don't know what to... What can I say?" He shook his head and stood up to leave his desk entirely.

Castiel didn't move from Dean, he'd calmed down to the point he was only trembling in his partner's arms and crying quietly. Dean lowered his head and rested it on the top of Castiel's, tears streaming down his cheeks and into the soft blackness of Castiel's hair.

 


	8. Chapter 8

As promised the video went viral over the internet and had been given time on different TV stations. Sam stood quietly staring at his screen, watching message boards he frequented, knowing that they knew who he was now. People sent him messages from all walks of life; they'd seen the videos and heard him loud and clear. People were ready to join him; people were willing to fight for his cause. He of course received mail from the opposing side, threats from companies competing with Crystal Wings and from Crystal Wings themselves. He smiled at the idle things, the stupid messages he knew they sent to him in fear.

He replied to them with a simple video each, the one piece of that first silhouetted shot they'd taken. "You should have been scared a long time ago." It was too late for them now, there was no way they could stop what was coming, the massive influx of people with their angels wanting to be by his side. He'd met with different teams; people who had seen what Dean and Castiel had been to one another, they had been moved by Castiel's words and then pushed over the edge by what Sam had shown them all. It was a revolution, rumbling to a start and Sam couldn't help but smile at the thought of it.

"Not bad," Lucifer's voice rolled over him like a poison and yet at the same time very light hearted. He stood next to Gabriel who eyed him disapprovingly. "So when are we going to sign up?"

"For what?" Sam looked at the bemused expression Lucifer wore, not sure he enjoyed seeing it.

"For what" Lucifer mocked his question with a huff of laughter, "The tournaments, duh."

"Why the hell would we need to get in on those?" Sam scrunched his face in confusion, "That's Dean's thing and I'd rather not put any angel through that."

"You haven't seen it, have you?" Lucifer walked closer and moved to wrap his arms around Sam's waist; a move interrupted by Gabriel who appeared on their human's other side, his arms already firmly in place there. Lucifer smiled strangely at his brother, those angry eyes fixed on him. "What I'm saying is that these tournaments aren't run by Crystal Wings, it's a different thing altogether."

"Well right now I think it'd be best to stay out of them," Sam looked down at Gabriel and put his hands on the angel's shoulders, "Hey, it's okay."

Gabriel looked up and hesitated, he wanted to stay and keep what was his to begin with but he stepped back instead. "Right." He looked away, thinking about the gate they'd opened and how bad an idea it had been.

" _You sure?" Gabriel asked for the millionth time, knowing what Sam's answer would be again._

" _Yes, Gabriel. He's an angel; he deserves to fight for his family." Sam said as he walked briskly down a long and seemingly never-ending tunnel._

" _He's Lucifer, don't get me wrong, I love the guy but I know what he wants, Sam! He wants an excuse to destroy." Gabriel tried to reason with Sam but again, he knew what Sam would say._

" _That isn't what I got out of my talk with him," Sam shook his head, "No, I think he wants to help us."_

_Gabriel didn't know how to say it; he didn't know what he was trying to explain he just knew that Sam was wrong. Lucifer would never 'just help'. "Please... think this over?"_

" _I have, Gabriel. This is what we're doing." Sam kept forward until he saw the gates coming into view. He knew that he'd never find this place again; he knew that he never would have if Lucifer hadn't shown it to him. The gates were large and looked like they were made of an ancient metal. Sam reached forward and hesitated, staring at the lock the looked to be about as big as his forearm. Was he ready for this? He furrowed his brow and grabbed the thing, of course he was ready._

_A massive flash and blast of wind knocked him backward, the lock shattered in his hand and the gates creaked open. The grinding sound only grew louder as the force of wind didn't stop, Gabriel held Sam up firmly, his eyes large and fearful._

" _I knew you'd come, Sam." Lucifer walked forward, that same smile growing wider as he came closer. "And Gabriel, long time no see."_

" _Been a while," Gabriel smirked, trying to ignore his pounding heart and rush of adrenaline. "How have you been?"_

" _Great, now." Lucifer looked over at Sam who had straightened up again. "Did you bring a collar for this? I 'd rather not end up tied to someone else."_

" _Uh..." Sam fumbled over himself, not normally a person to carry things like that. Gabriel lifted one up and put it in his hands, "Thanks," Sam looked at the deceptive calm on Gabriel's face, an ugly feeling sinking in his chest. He swallowed and ignored it, walking over to Lucifer's side. "Here, put this on."_

_Lucifer took it and clipped it on, closing his eyes when he felt it lock, "Wait a second..." He touched it gently, "This isn't a binding collar, is it?"_

" _No, it repels them actually." Sam looked at it, watching it form to Lucifer's neck-size easily._

" _Well I hope you remember the binding spell." Lucifer smirked, "Fighting doesn't work so well otherwise."_

_Sam hesitated, "Gabriel's already my-"_

" _You aren't limited to just one, not you anyway." Lucifer watched the way Sam shifted, the discomfort he clearly displayed, "Or not, that's fine too. Though I'm open to it whenever you need it, just so you know." He pat Gabriel's shoulder, "Nice to be working with you again."_

" _Yeah," Gabriel smiled back, an obligation he felt needed to be returned else he'd lose his life in one move. "So how about we head back?"_

" _Dibs on carrying Sam," Lucifer called playfully, scooping the unsuspecting Winchester into his arms and taking flight._

" _Hey!" Gabriel moved to argue but they were gone already. "...He's mine..."_

Gabriel shook his head, not too fond of the memory. But what he could he do? He didn't have much of a right to feel bad over this, he knew it was news but he was too scared to stop Sam. He was too weak to force his partner away from such a stupid idea, how could he possibly complain now? He'd had his chance and let it pass; now he'd have to live with what came next. He knew Lucifer pretty well even in the last few days; it was clearer to him now what his brother wanted. Lucifer was going to find a way to rule the Earth; he'd join Sam in taking down the big threats as they came at them, possibly sooner. Gabriel couldn't put his finger on the master plan but he was sure that it existed.

Also, he wished the damn perv would keep his hands to himself. He'd caught Lucifer's wandering eyes more than once on his,  _his_  Sammy.

"Just saying that the tournaments should be a target," Lucifer shrugged, "That's all."

"I know what you're saying but right now we're focusing on something else, it'd be overboard to try for the Angel Battle Systems right now, people are just starting to listen. We'll get them, just not yet." Sam dropped onto his bed and closed his eyes, his mind trailing back to Dean and Castiel, wondering what they would be up to at this time.

Gabriel sat down beside him and ran a hand through his hair, "No rush, right?"

"But why not?" Lucifer's tone was on the verge of angry, "They have the angels fighting one another, sometimes to the death and for what? These people need to be shut down, who cares if it's too soon?"

"Because then it'll just be mindless destruction," Sam sat up again and looked at him with knowing eyes, "I get how you feel but we've already gotten past the blowing things up stage of this. There will be more that come along but right now, after we've gotten everyone's attention, we need to start showing them. We have to prove that not only can angels and humans work together to a goal but that they need to start treating angels properly, it's all a political game on every side we try so we need to play ball with them, to an extent."

"There's a reason you chose Sam," Gabriel piped in, "He's got this covered so just wait until he says it's go time."

Lucifer lifted his hands in defeat, "Alright, alright." He smiled and walked over, stroking Sam's cheek carefully. "You really are a cute little thing."

Sam furrowed his brow and pulled back, "Who's little?"

Lucifer laughed and messed up Sam's hair, "Just cute then." He glanced at Gabriel for a moment and started to head outside, "We should probably train you though, you are sort of small."

Sam's face crinkled further and he had to look at Gabriel for confirmation. His angel shrugged, "You're tall?" He offered weakly.

Sam stood up and walked out, being small wasn't an option, he needed to be able to hold his own out there, it was necessary now. "Come on, let's go." He called back, ignoring the long sigh that followed. "Come on."

"Coming!" Gabriel trudged after him, rolling his eyes as he went. As much as he loved Sam sometimes the guy just needed to sit down and do nothing for a little while.

* * *

"Yeah I saw..." Dean paced back and forth, the phone glued to his ear. "No, I didn't, I had no idea he was..."

Castiel watched him, knowing full well who Dean was on the phone with. Both Mary and John were probably sitting around the thing while it was on speaker so they could both hear his answers. Castiel sighed and curled his knees upward to hold, he had to be thankful for his blessings, that he never ended up like some of his siblings. He was lucky enough to remain hidden until he was caught by Dean's father, to be given to Dean of all people, his soul mate. The truth about Crystal Wings' facilities and what had been happening to his family, Castiel could hardly take it. He knew it already but seeing it was something entirely different. If he'd been in Sam's shoes he would have done so much more than just blow the buildings apart. He would have done it while the workers were inside, he would he locked them all down in their own prisons, hooked up to the same machines and left them there to die.

Dean hung up the phone and looked over at the increasingly quiet and brooding angel on the couch, "Cas..." Dean whispered, walking over and kneeling down beside his fiancé, "How are you doing?"

"After yesterday..." Castiel shook his head, "After the first time they aired it I... I don't know, what are we doing?"

"Sam used us as an example; we are making a difference, a huge one. People never used to think humans and angels could be anything to one another, thanks to us they've had to reconsider the thought. People are starting to treat angels better, I've seen it and I know you have too." Dean reached over and squeezed Castiel's hand, "Believe in us as much as they do, okay? We are hope to some of them, we need to keep fighting."

Castiel dropped his knees and slid to the floor and into Dean's arms, his head resting against his lover's shoulder where he could hear Dean's heart beating slowly. It was a comforting sound, something he was very glad to hear. "I love you, Dean." He whispered, "I don't know where I'd be without you."

"Likewise," Dean kissed Castiel's forehead, "I love you too."


	9. Chapter 9

_Just a little bit, just a look inside and that's all it had taken. Castiel shrieked when it happened, the cage dropping down over him and blocking him from everything else. He slammed into it, over and over again but it didn't budge, it didn't give at all. He wailed again, the cage was dragged slowly, laughter echoed in his ears. "NO!"_

Castiel sat upright, the room was dark and silent aside from Dean's shallow breathing. Castiel wiped his face, trying to let his heart slow down before burying himself in the covers again. He hadn't had a nightmare since before the first tournament, not one that scared him awake anyway. He took a long and slow breath, trying to calm himself. He looked at Dean for a moment, considered waking him but thought better of it. It was just a brief nightmare, nothing to interrupt Dean's sleep over, he was missing Sam terribly and at this point Castiel didn't want to take anything else away from him. Instead he curled up and closed his eyes, trying to sleep again. The room felt heavier after each passing second and soon his consciousness slipped away from him again.

_The room was cold; the air was stale and smelled of chemicals and other things he couldn't recognize. Castiel coughed and slowly started to sit up but found that he couldn't move. Each limb was locked down to a freezing metal table, his back pressed against the unforgiving surface in an uncomfortable way. He strained to move again, this time taking note of how heavy everything felt, his arms and legs were stiff and his neck felt abused. He whined and looked around the room, seeing a falsely lit room with enochian carved into every surface. His eyes widened and he cried out for help, for safety, for his father, for Dean, he didn't even know at this point. A long and agonized scream tore from his throat and mixed with those of his brothers and sisters in the adjoining rooms._

Castiel sat up again; there was light peering in from the window, the crack of dawn greeting him. He fumbled out of bed and stumbled down the hall to the bathroom. Dean opened an eye and figured that it might be nothing though his gut told him differently.

Castiel didn't go back to bed.

* * *

The next night Dean curled up against Castiel's back, pulling him into a hug and kissed the back of his neck. "Good night."

Castiel smiled and relaxed, "Night." He'd all but forgotten the nightmares of the night before; it was just a dream after all, nothing to get worked up about. He closed his eyes and dozed off, completely happy to be with Dean.

_A bright light shone down on him, directly into his eyes. Castiel flinched and tried to look away but his head was firmly clasped in place. "No..." he protested weakly, "Stop it." His pleas were ignored as he saw several silhouettes of people in surgical masks loom over him. They spoke in a way that he didn't understand what they meant, everything was muffled and sounded like the blood rushing through his ears. He moaned when a needle pricked his arm and drained him of something, he couldn't focus on it long enough to register what it was though he assumed blood. Everything felt weighed down, like he'd been sedated and drugged like the angels he'd seen in Sam's video._

_Is that where he was? In one of those facilities? Castiel squirmed and strained to focus on something in the room, to see where he was and what was going to happen to him. "Please let me go!" he cried but it was like no one could hear him. "Help me!" He sobbed, his chest feeling heavier and heavier as he watched one of the people pick up a saw of some sort. "Please! Help me! Dean! DEAN!"_

Castiel's eyes popped open, his chest heaving up and down frantically. He looked out the window and saw that little crack of sunlight. He climbed out of bed slowly and went downstairs alone, leaving Dean to sleep.

* * *

The next night Castiel was hesitant to fall asleep; he stared up at the ceiling and tried to keep thinking to keep his mind busy, to stop himself from sleeping. He could lay in bed with Dean and not sleep, right? Of course he could, it wasn't like he needed the rest. But after the last years of sleeping every night, closing his eyes and letting his mind drift, it was a habit. He flinched and opened his eyes again as he caught them closing, he wasn't going to let himself sleep. He was scared to, scared of what would happen next in his nightmares, they felt like they were moving forward like a story. He didn't want to know what was next; he didn't want to know anything.

But sleep can sneak up on you.

_The first thing he noticed was the searing, agonizing pain being carved into his spine. He was on his face now, every sigil and symbol in the room prevented him from moving, stopped him from accessing his grace in any way, and over all just made him powerless. He felt the knife dig into his back again and he screamed louder than he ever thought he could, and yet it was still like no one could hear him. No one but other angels in the facility, who promptly responded with their own wails of despair._

_Castiel sobbed and whimpered when he felt the pressure lift off of him for a moment, everything on his back felt cold and exposed, the cool air though discomforting felt good in comparison to the blade. He breathed heavily and his eyes watered, "Please..." He begged softly, "Please help me..."_

_Something prodded into his back again this time forcing his wings to spread for them, he whimpered and cried but they didn't listen. He shrieked and tensed as he felt the saw start in on the bone in his right wing, "NO!" He wailed and struggled, the pain shocking his system to the extent he couldn't think anymore, his mind felt like it shattered and melted at the same time and yet there was no way he could be prepared for the pain that shot through him when they broke past the bone and hit the nerves bunched together in his back._

Castiel bolted upright again, this time he immediately flew to a different part of the city because he knew he'd wake Dean otherwise. He fell against the wall of a building making some ungodly noises that he hadn't realized were him until his mind started to focus again. He sobbed and wretched until his body calmed down and he became more aware of the fact that it had just been a dream. He gasped and flew back home, dropping down onto the couch, exhausted. He turned the TV on and muted it, hoping to distract himself entirely.

* * *

"Dean! Dean!" Castiel fluttered into his partner's face when his prompts didn't work; he shook Dean's shoulder until he'd woken up, eyes blinking drowsily.

"What?" Dean yawned, he'd heard Castiel the first dozen times but it sounded like excitement and he wasn't willing to be excited before dawn. Apparently sleeping in wasn't agreeing with his angel these days, he hardly woke up with his little feather-head curled next to him anymore.

"The tournament style has been announced, we've got our invitation, see?" He thrust the papers at Dean, waving them impatiently until his human finally took hold of them.

Dean adjusted himself in bed and cleared his throat as he read through the descriptions, "Wow..."

"Right?" Castiel stood up again and walked around the room a bit, "I wonder how that'll work out..."

Dean shrugged, still mulling it over, himself. The new tournament would be an interesting one, far from the conventional way of doing it. There would be no live audience this year, no world travelling, or at least aside from the original move. There wouldn't be any hotels or casual sex in them, no downtime in beautiful cities, no television, no anything. Those who signed up would be shipped out to an island created specially for this tournament, literally shipped because they'd be arriving by cruise ship. Dean had to wonder how it would work, there'd probably be cameras all over the place, live feed for internet users and every day there'd be a team of people cutting footage up and combining it into a decently edited video for television.

But where was the appeal in that? Though maybe he was just spoiled now, he always used to watch the matches on TV with his dad but after being in the tournament, after being in the arena for the fights it was just too epic to turn down. People who paid to see it in person would probably be disappointed with this turn of events.

"So basically it'll be a battle royal..." Dean stood up and stretched, "This is going to be messy, I think."

"That's assuming that everyone ends up being retarded and tries to fight all at the same time. In my opinion, it's a game of strategy. There will be traps set up by the other teams and my bet is that this island has been in the making for a long time, it's probably rigged to mess with us too." Castiel walked up behind Dean and wrapped his arms around the man's torso, "I think this one will be important..."

"Why do you say that?" Dean reached up and touched his angel's hands gently but only for a brief moment before dropping his arm again.

"I just do... It's a feeling." Castiel nuzzled Dean's back before walking around him and staring up into a disapproving look. "What?"

"Nothing." Dean pulled away and walked toward the bathroom.

Castiel stood and watched for a moment, his brow slowly furrowing down as his blood came to a boil inside him. "What the fuck is your problem! Why are you being so distant?"

"I'm distant?" Dean turned around angrily, "You're the one who gets up early every morning to do whatever else, why can't you stay in bed for a while? Or at least tell me you're going!"

"I don't even need to sleep, what does it matter if I get up and wander every once in a while?" Castiel snapped back, his upper lip curling slightly in his anger.

"Because I do need to sleep and..." Dean rubbed his face, wishing it'd wipe the stress away as well. "And I know that you've been having nightmares, I... I can't do anything about it!" He threw his arm out in a fit and knocked a bunch of things off their nightstand, not caring what crashed and possibly broke. "You're in pain and I can't help!"

Castiel flinched at the loud banging but lowered his guard again, his head turned to the side and away from Dean. "I... was hoping you hadn't noticed that..."

"Of course I did, Cas." Dean went to Castiel's side and pulled him into a hug, "You've been getting up early ever since we watched that video Sam made." He squeezed Castiel tighter and buried his face into the dark locks of hair. "Is there anything I can do?"

Castiel closed his eyes and rested against Dean, listening to the heartbeat he knew pushed a new wave of pain through his lover every time it thumped. "It'll pass," he whispered softly, "I just need to get those images out of my head."

Dean nodded, "Please, talk to me next time okay? I feel so useless... You don't need to deal with these things alone, wake me up, tell me about what you saw, snuggle closer, just don't get up and leave."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again." Castiel whispered and lifted his head to look into Dean's eyes, a softer and gentler expression resting there now. "I didn't want to scare you with it, that's all."

"Don't worry about that, I'm here for you Cas." Dean smiled and kissed him carefully, making sure to lull Castiel in and relax him a bit. "I love you."

"I love you too." Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean's shoulders and went back to the kiss like it was the only thing keeping him safely grounded.


	10. Chapter 10

"So, I'm sure you've seen the video that the Freedom Fighters have put up." Another interviewer, Miss Masters, Dean thought he'd heard, "What did you feel when you saw it?"

Castiel knew the cameras were angled his way and all he could do was turn away, tears rushing back to his eyes. Dean put an arm around his angel's shoulders, letting Castiel hide against him, giving him a comforting squeeze. "In all honesty, Cas hasn't been able to sleep anymore. He's had nightmares every night and while I know angels don't need to sleep I... I miss it. My baby doesn't come to bed anymore." He bit the inside of his cheek and kissed the top of Castiel's head, his angel looking up slowly with large, pained blue eyes.

"I'm not sure about the rest of the world but I was pretty appalled by what I saw," Masters said softly, "But what I didn't see coming was that the leader of the Freedom Fighters was so young, and related to you."

"Sammy," Dean smiled sadly, "I wish I could talk to him, find out what he's thinking, what he's doing. I want to catch up, I missed the last 5 to 6 years of his life and I miss that little... well not so little now, I guess." He glanced at the cameras then back at Masters, "Can I... can I say something?" He motioned toward the things filming him and she motioned for him to go for it. "Thanks," he turned to the cameras and took a slow breath. "Sam, I don't know if you'll watch this or anything but I... I want you to know that I love you and we should talk sometime. I won't even be mad that you vanished for five years, just... Please come back."

Castiel leaned forward despite the tears in his eyes and looked at the cameras as well, something he'd grown accustomed to doing. "Sam," he cleared his throat and tried to sound less distraught, "Sam, even though I miss you I," his voice cracked again and he had to pause to take a moment, he wiped his eyes and rubbed his face, "I want you to know that I'm so thankful for you, what you've done for us is... It's extreme but it's working. I know you," he steadied himself with a shaky breath and ignored the tightness of his chest as he continued to speak with more of a hold on himself. "You are a kind, sweet person who would never go this far without reason. I admire the strength it's taken for you to stand up and I think, combined with how Dean and I have started in at the problem, we can do this. We can make a place for angels to live with humans."

Dean squeezed Castiel's shoulders again and looked back at Masters who, to her credit, had been wiping tears away from her eyes as well. "That was beautiful, you two." She said, a charming woman Dean had decided. "So I have to ask, what is Sam Winchester like? Fans really want to know."

"He has fans?" Dean asked in surprise.

"Sam has been a very kind individual, from my experience." Castiel didn't hesitate to praise the first human to show him kindness, it was the least he could do. "When I was first captured by Dean's father and that collar was put on me and everything, Sam came over with a blanket to put around me. He apologized; he tried to look out for me constantly and defended me every time I needed it. Sam has always been on the angels' side. But as a person, he was really smart from what I'd learned, I'm sure he still is actually."

Dean smiled, recalling all the little moments he'd had with his little brother , "He used to have these nightmares," he looked up with a little glint in his eye, "He'd wake up crying and ran straight to my room, not mom or dad's but mine. He would stand at my bedside and say my name until I woke up, his little hands fidgeting and he looked so small. Often I didn't ask and just nodded, he'd climb over me, he felt safest by wall." Dean laughed and rubbed his eyes, "He's a good guy."

Masters smiled, "He has an angel too, doesn't he? Gabriel I think it was."

"Yes, I saw that too," Castiel nodded quickly, "Gabriel's the self-preserving type, he probably forced Sam to do that, I can't see Sam collaring an angel in any other scenario."

"Yeah," Dean nodded as well, "Sammy's pretty against that sort of thing, I'm sure you noticed."

Masters laughed, "You don't say?" She looked down as if to remember the next question she was supposed to ask before making eye contact with them again, "So, world champions five times over, are you going to be signing up for your sixth world tournament?"

"Yes." Castiel said evenly, "Or, at least I think we are." He looked over at Dean who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Duh," was all Dean needed to say, "We've got a title to defend, though mostly I want to see how this one's going to play out..."

* * *

"DAMN IT!" Sam slammed his laptop shut and stood up in the same motion, his hands immediately finding their way to his forehead and sliding up into his hair. He paced the room, past Gabriel and Lucifer who had both jumped a little from the outburst. The brothers glanced at each other, Lucifer stifling a laugh while Gabriel started to look a bit concerned.

"What's up?"

"The new tournament was announced." Sam frowned deeply, "The set up of it... I looked at it and there's no way onto that island unless you're shipped in with the contestants, it's got a big angel barrier around it and some kind of electro-magnetic field that, unless it's turned off, shuts down any planes or helicopters attempting to land."

"So? I thought we weren't going after the big tournament heads yet." Lucifer leaned back, his hands folding neatly behind his head.

"Well after you mentioned it I looked some things up and as it turns out people reacted so strongly to our video that Crystal Wings has had to merge with the leaders in the Angel Battle Systems." Sam sighed heavily and pressed a hand against the nearest doorframe, leaning against it agitatedly.

"I don't get it," Lucifer sat forward again, "What exactly is the big difference between them?"

Gabriel smirked, "Crystal Wings was the big leader when it came to angel research and gadgets, catching us and whatnot. The Angel Battle System is the lead in Angel Entertainment, it's the whole one angel fights another, thing. Everyone who wanted to own an angel had to use Crystal Wings' stuff since they were one of the most dependable companies for this sort of thing. But everyone who's interested in watching angels can invest in the battles and entertainment portion of angelic fields."

"The entertainment portion is bigger, I'll admit." Sam started in again, "But they weren't doing as much harm as Crystal Wings, not nearly as much. So we had to take on the big fish to make the biggest splash." He bit his bottom lip, considering how things had been playing out lately. With the addition of Lucifer they had several more angels take their side, joining in the fight for freedom. And people who owned angels had actually found a way to approach them, stating their desires to help. The Freedom Fighters were bigger and stronger than ever but that didn't matter if Sam couldn't figure out how to get to the Angel Entertainment heads.

"We should join the tournament," Lucifer offered casually. "Win, and then see what that gets us."

"What's the point?" Sam glanced at him, "That's something Dean's been doing for years and so far it hasn't worked."

"No..." Gabriel sat forward too, a lollipop shoved into his cheek, "But every time they win they're handed a trophy by one of the big wigs, usually Crowley. If we'd win, he'd have to give us the trophy in person and"

"And then we capture him and make demands?" Lucifer joined in with a raised eyebrow, "Not too bad, but what are our demands?"

"Making demands at this point won't make a difference," Sam shook his head and turned to face them again, leaning his back against the doorframe, "They know our demands at this point, people have rioted in the streets in our name, we've forced Crystal Wings down to almost nothing, if they haven't backed down now they never will."

"A lot of the world's economy comes from Angel Entertainment these days, doesn't it?" Gabriel asked quietly, "Won't that take a big hit?"

"Probably yes," Sam shrugged, "But that isn't what we should be considering because at this point we deserve to take a hit like that. We let it get to this point and everyone needs to pay their dues for the atrocities that they've let happen, I don't care at this point. If everything goes well the angels and humans can work side by side in fixing the mess, but until then we'll have to ignore the money factor..." He trailed off and considered what he'd just said, "Wait... Money." He walked around the room again, something that helped get his mind going sometimes. "What's the thing that turns every greedy son of a bitch into the worst version of themselves? What causes people to do awful, horrible things?"

"That's a lot, where would you like me to start?" Lucifer smirked.

"I'm going to go with money," Gabriel piped in. "People are always thinking about money these days."

"Right," Sam crossed his arms again, "So we should do what we did with Crystal Wings, hack their bank accounts."

"That probably made them shit their pants," Gabriel laughed, "All those big tycoon business guys staring at a nice whopping zero in their accounts. Wish I'd seen their faces."

"Lucifer, could you go get Charlie started on that?" Sam asked the archangel who promptly smiled and vanished. Sam sighed and turned the TV on, his fingers drumming against his leg anxiously. "We may need to join the tournament..." He looked over at Gabriel sadly, "They're surprisingly more capable of defending themselves against us, even more so now that Crystal Wings has merged with them. They know most of our tricks and blowing things up won't work anymore."

"So we jump into their dancing monkey pit?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "I get what you're saying, Sam. We need to get to them somehow and they're most open when they hand over the trophies to the winners, but what do we do with them? What kinds of things can we demand out of them that they don't already get? You were right when you shot Lucifer down; we just need to find an answer."

Sam nodded, barely hearing the start of some talk show or news thing on television. "I have no idea..." He dropped his head back and sighed heavily, "We'll seize their funds which will definitely get their attention... Maybe they weren't scared of us because we'd only targeted Crystal Wings until now; we haven't made any declarations toward them at all so really I don't think they'll see this coming."

"Probably not, still wish I could see their faces when they realize it though." Gabriel snickered, his hand reaching over and stroking Sam's hair gently.

"We should try making demands of them, threatening them might actually work. They're just part of the entertainment industry, right? Shouldn't be too hard to intimidate."

"We need something big to happen," Lucifer walked back in, "We have their attention, we have the vast majority on our side, we need to keep doing what you've been doing."

"What are you getting at?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I'm saying we need them to know our faces a little better, people need to be on our side. I took a look around, the world is pretty much in love with Dean and Castiel, they're falling for little Sammy too but not nearly as much. We need to get some of that action, make sure everyone knows our names, and then make a huge statement." Lucifer sat down again and leaned back one more time, "We've got all the pieces in place, all we need now is the last giant shove for our revolution. I've been around a long time, I can see pretty clearly where we're sitting."

Sam looked over at Gabriel, knowing full well that both of his angels had been around for a long time and he needed to see if Lucifer was on the right track. "He's got a point..." Gabriel nodded, "From the different battles I've witnessed, I know that continuing to chip away at the minor things won't amount to anything. We haven't been doing that lately but we've plateau-ed. We've hit a new obstacle and we need some more energy to get over it. People are expecting something big from us."

"So then what can we do? What's a giant shove that'll end this thing?" Sam folded his arms over his chest thoughtfully.

"First, we need to get our names out there a little better, get among the loved. You're Dean's brother; people would love to see the two of you together." Lucifer offered seamlessly.

"Dean would never join us, Lucifer. It's too extreme for him, I know that." Sam shook his head.

"Then we compromise and meet him on his end." Gabriel nodded, "We need to join the new world tournament."

Sam furrowed his brow, "Gabriel, I can't do that to you."

"Then use me," Lucifer got up and walked around to stand in front of Sam, "Though really there's no rule saying you can't use more than one angel."

Gabriel stood up as well, "I'm definitely going with you, Sam."

Sam looked between them, "But... These tournaments-"

"Are our only way in, we have to, Sam." Gabriel insisted, "Sign us up."

As Sam sat deciding, his gut wrenching at the thought, he heard a familiar voice. He looked up at the TV to see Dean and Castiel sitting across from a woman, the title beneath her saying Megan Masters. He stared at his brother as the older Winchester spoke, it was Sam. "Dean?" He whispered, his heart beating painfully when he saw his brother address the cameras. "I..." he swallowed and wiped his eyes, "I miss you too, Dean." Sam wasn't at all prepared for Castiel's next words or the tears in the angel's eyes. "Cas..." Sam hadn't realized how much he missed them, how much his actions meant to Castiel.

"Sam?" Gabriel put a hand on Sam's shoulder, a soft and comforting expression on his face.

"Let's do it." Sam stood up and looked between the two angels that didn't seem to ever leave his sides, "We're signing up."


	11. Chapter 11

The turnout for signing up was crazy; Dean and Castiel stood beside the booth since they were, in fact, celebrities to this kind of thing. Dean took Castiel's hand, his angel squeezing it passively. Castiel watched all the new faces, old faces, and just plain faces. They stared at him and many approached, tried to speak with them but were cut off by security. "I feel bad," Castiel whispered after a moment of watching this happen at least five times. "These people just want to talk to us, why can't we?"

"Rules," Dean shrugged, "But you're right, we should just walk over there." He smiled and, with Castiel's hand in his, started walking past the security guards looming around. People swarmed immediately, question after question and words of endearment all mixed into one loud sound.

Castiel smiled back and waved a bit at the people further away, he hadn't noticed the small body close in on him and wrap arms around his waist. He looked down to see a little girl, probably around thirteen or so, nuzzling his abdomen. He put his arms around her in return and pet her head gently, "What is it?" He asked softly when she lifted her head.

"I saw you cry on TV," She smiled sadly, "My mom's always said that when someone looks sad I should hug them, they'll feel better."

Castiel swallowed, ignoring the little ache growing in his chest, "Thank you, sweetheart." He knelt down and kissed her cheek, "You are a blessing, thank you." She blushed and hurried back through the crowd, Castiel watched her closely until he saw her hand connect with an older woman's. He stood up again and looked at Dean who could only smile at him. "What?"

"That was cute, Cas." Dean kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair.

Castiel shoved him playfully, "Shut up," He kissed Dean back and looked toward the already cheering fans around them. "So how many of you are excited about this tournament?" The cheers grew louder and he nodded, a small smile still on his lips, "Alright, why?"

"We'll be there to support you, Castiel." Someone called out. Others joined in the praise and before Dean and Castiel knew it they were hearing chants of 'I love you'.

"Oh dear..." Castiel glanced at Dean and both of their faces turned upward into smirks, cracking into laughter.

"Cas! Dean!" A familiar voice called out to them, causing both heads to turn and see Anna approaching, Chuck closely following. "Long time!"

"Anna!" Castiel lit up and ran to hug her, "I can't believe you're here!"

"Tell me about it, but this guy wanted to take part this year." She smiled and stepped back, patting her brother's shoulder with a solid clapping sound. "Something about being there for our friends or whatever."

"She insisted," Chuck added meekly and flinched, "ow..." He looked down where Anna's heel had connected with his shin, "Ow..."

"Nice to see you too, Chuck." Dean stuck his hand out to shake which Chuck promptly took.

"Yeah, I can't believe how famous you two got. To think I trained with you years back. Weird, right?" Chuck smiled and looked around at the gawking crowd, "Shouldn't you be behind some body guards or something?"

"Nah, we're good." Dean looked to Castiel who nodded confidently.

"Glad to hear it. Oh! And one other thing, is the Sam from-"

"Yeah, that's my little brother." Dean cut him off, not entirely in the mood to hear about Sam at that moment. "So what have you two been up to?"

"Practicing for this," Anna interjected, "We've gone to a few smaller tournaments and fights, we made the qualifier to even try and sign up for this one. They've been pretty lenient with it though, I mean I don't think they want a small turnout. They want this thing to be massive."

"Yeah, it's going to be pretty intense, from what I've read." Dean nodded in agreement.

"I'm still curious as to how they'll determine a winner." She added, "We'll be on that island for a while, so the rumours say, so is it a 'if you lose you're out' kind of thing?"

"Nope," Chuck lifted a hand to push into the conversation again, "I think it's going to be one of those 'you get one item different than everyone else's' kind of set ups."

"What do you mean?" Castiel tilted his head curiously.

"I mean everyone's going to get something special to their team. When you beat a team you take their thingie, the team with the most items at the end wins, I think." Chuck crossed his arms over his chest thoughtfully, "Though still sort of guessing on that front."

"That sounds kinda cool." Dean looked over at Castiel who nodded slowly.

"It's different than we've done before though I think it's been done in the past, hasn't it? Like in movies and on TV?" Castiel raised an eyebrow, glancing between the different faces around him.

"Yeah," Dean shrugged, "But I think it'll be fun. It's hard to be original now-a-days anyway, they're doing their best."

Castiel laughed, "All we can ask for, I suppose." He glanced over at the long line of angels and humans, many of the faces angled their way, "On another note though, I think they'll still have to shave down the competition..."

"They will, though you two won't have to join in on that, you guys go straight to the island in a month, no questions asked." Anna pouted, "Kind of sucks but I guess we'll have to just work harder and qualify."

"Hey, we put our effort in already." Dean laughed, "So I guess good luck guys, better get in the line up."

"Yeah," Chuck sighed and started toward the end of the line, "They've got set ups like this all over the world, makes you wonder how many people are joining in."

"We'll find out in a month." Dean called after them.

"Wow, Anna and Chuck." Castiel mused, "Never thought I'd see them here of all places."

"What can I say? Anna loves you." Dean smirked and headed back toward the booth, "Come on, we're getting swarmed again."

Castiel nodded and waved at the fans before walking after Dean.

* * *

Sam took a deep breath and pushed the doors open leading him into the atrium of the building hosting the sign ups in the city he'd moved to with the team. Everyone in the Freedom Fighters listened to their plan and though not all of them understood they trusted Sam wholly, he had led them this far and as far as they were concerned he knew what he was doing. It was mostly true, Sam figured the plan made some sense but something throbbed in the back of his mind. That little piece of him that still clung to the beliefs of his brother, the little boy who would climb into his big brother's bed at night or run to him with a problem. Sam didn't want to admit it but he felt off, very off.

"Sam?" Lucifer's words rolled into his mind like a drug easing his pain, "You look worried."

Sam looked to Lucifer for a moment then back to the crowds of people who turned their heads, the mass number of people staring at him only grew as eyes widened. He'd made himself clearly known and now here he stood facing all these people who were about to sign up for an angel battle tournament. Fear was the only word that could be described some of their expressions. Sam scanned the faces slowly before walking to the back of the line; he didn't want to admit a lot of things at that moment but the rush of adrenaline he felt told him that he was far from calm.

Gabriel's hand brushed past his, curling their fingers together casually, a sweet comforting motion. He looked up at Sam with a grin, a string of liquorice hanging from between his teeth. Sam smiled and closed his eyes,  _'Thank you.'_

At first no one knew what to do, Sam Winchester, leader of the Freedom Fighters, was standing in a line for the sign up tables. Though it didn't take long, a camera crew and reporter rushed over once they'd gathered the courage and were sure Sam wasn't going to blow anything up. "Sam Winchester," She called with as much strength as she could muster, "May we have a word?"

Sam looked up, not used to this kind of attention at all but he nodded cooperatively. "Yeah, sure."

She blushed at the sound of his voice, apparently a fan. Her eyes were a little distracted by the size of him but that was cut short with Gabriel's hand snapping in her face, "Focus lady, what do you want?"

"Right," She cleared her throat and put on her reporter face again, "Sam, everyone's wondering what your agenda is here. What are you planning to do?"

Sam's face was as innocent as ever and an adorable smile spread over lips, he glanced down, away from the camera for a moment before lifting his head again to answer. "Same as the rest of you."

"Yeah, it's kind of obvious." Lucifer added with a wide grin.

She looked at the two angels that seemed to be with him and tilted her head curiously, "Are both of these angels with you?"

"Yeah, actually." Sam looked between the two of them, mentally deciding on how he wanted this to go down. He could tell by the looks on some of the angels' faces that they were well aware who it was that stood beside him, how could they not? He was one of their biggest fish for a while. "This is Gabriel, someone who's been with me for a long time." He lifted their hands when he spoke, fingers still laced with his angel's. Gabriel seemed to beam at this, very proud. "And this," Sam motioned to the deviously grinning archangel on his other side, "is Lucifer."

Her face paled a little, "Lucifer...? As in..."

"Yeah," Sam nodded with a smile, "Turns out he doesn't like what we're doing to his family."

The room fell utterly silent, all eyes on Sam, and all cameras on them. Every security guard and otherwise that were receiving word to take down the leader of their industry's biggest threat slowed their march. No one wanted to go toe to toe with a man who had two archangels standing on either side of him ready to fight his battles. Sam looked around at all the uncertain expressions and knew that he couldn't just leave it in silence.

"Listen to me, everyone. I understand that some of you are here on behalf of Dean and Castiel, so who here is?" Many hands lifted at that, "Are you fans of them and want to fight on the same battlefield? Are you looking to take their title? Why are you fighting here?"

No one dared answer that question.

Sam sighed, "Have you been listening to the world lately? Someone here, please tell me what you're signing up for and tell me why."

A young man cleared his throat and took his angel's hand, "We're here as support for them." The man said, his angel nodded decidedly.

Sam eyed them and nodded, "Then, if that's why you're here, why are you afraid of us? We're on the same side so you have nothing to be scared of, Lucifer is here for his family and Gabriel is-"

"Speaking for himself," Gabriel butted in and looked at the crowd who seemed to calm down a bit, "I'm here because I'm with Sam. His beliefs, his goals, I want to help him achieve them because I love this giant dork and I like to think he loves me." He squeezed Sam's hand and promptly got a squeeze back.

"Of course, Gabriel." Sam said quietly, not terribly comfortable with public affection.

Lucifer's eyes raked over them blatantly and he'd decided to stay put, his smile remaining in place. Clearly, despite Gabriel's claims of love and Sam's return of them, Lucifer didn't feel threatened by it. "We're here for the tournament, like any of you." Lucifer stepped forward, his presence could be felt by everyone there and no one dared say anything to interrupt him. "So how about we all relax and have a little fun, huh?"

The reporter nodded, deciding that she couldn't take much more of this and promptly left the area. Sam exhaled heavily and ran a hand down his face, "How does Dean do that?"

"Castiel is pretty good on camera, that's how." Gabriel smirked, "That scrappy little guy is actually pretty damn epic. After having one of those shoved in my face I gotta say I respect him a little more, especially considering all the stuff he's been able to say just on the spot. We rehearsed ours, most of the time."

"We've only done two videos," Sam raised an eyebrow, "We've rehearsed every time." He shook his head, "Though now Dean knows I'm taking part in this... I feel like a hypocrite."

"Well yeah, but that's because you know no one else sees the rest of the plan." Gabriel shrugged, "It's going to be uncomfortable for a while until we get into the action."

"We need to qualify first," Sam muttered agitatedly, "Ever consider the fact that we don't actually fight? What if this doesn't work out?"

"Cool your jets," Lucifer wrapped an arm around Sam's waist, a motion that seeped into his mind and made him feel a little foggy. "We're going to be fine, I promise."

Gabriel glared down at the close contact but said nothing, facing off against Lucifer wasn't on his to do list. He snapped his gaze back toward the front of the line, cursing himself again for letting any of this continue but his fears didn't let him act to stop it.


	12. Chapter 12

Dean stared at the large TV screen in the lounge, it was the last day of sign ups and he finally got to see something that had apparently been all over the news that week. "Sammy?" He stared at the slightly nervous face of his brother as a reporter inched closer to him. "Is that Sam in a sign up building?"

"Yes..." Castiel muttered slowly, his eyes fixed on something entirely different. "But that's Lucifer."

Dean spun to look at Castiel's wide and mostly terrified eyes, his angel swallowed roughly and lifted a shaky hand to point at him though Sam had promptly introduced everyone present as well. "Sam has two archangels?" Dean stared back at the screen, "Sam has  _Lucifer_!"

"Yes, it appears Lucifer is on his team... But something is..." He tilted his head and watched the way Sam looked ahead, that beautiful clarity was missing. The shine that Castiel remembered seeing the first day, the one he saw in Sam's nightmarish video. They must have retrieved Lucifer very recently, only one angel could have that kind of influence on a human. Then again, Sam would never hinder an angel's strength, Lucifer was as free as he'd ever been in the past and he was doing something to Sam. "He doesn't look so good, actually." Castiel stepped closer to the screen and touched where Sam's face was located though of course it didn't make a difference. "Sam..." Castiel shook his head, "You poor thing..."

"What?" Dean grabbed Castiel's shoulder with conviction, his heart pounded painfully at the thought of what his angel could have meant. "Why?"

"Lucifer's in his head like you and I can do. He's connected inside Sam's head but it's... It's wrong. Something isn't sitting right and it's hard to tell but Sam isn't the same with Lucifer around. To put it in simpler terms, he's ill." Castiel explained, "We need to get Lucifer away from him as soon as we can."

"Well the next time we see him will be on the cruise ship heading into the world tournament island thing, it'll be another month before we can actually see him." Dean muttered, "Unless we go and meet up with him during the qualifiers, he'll still have to take those."

"No, bad idea." Castiel shook his head quickly, "He might be hostile toward us which would only cause a big fight in a space not ready for it. The island will be away from civilians and innocents, only teams who can fight and defend themselves will be present so if anything does happen at least they'll be prepared. We should wait until the tournament."

"But you said as soon as possible." Dean frowned, "Now is as soon as possible!"

"It's not possible if you consider the situation, so calm down. Sam's not dying; it's not that kind of illness. He'll be okay as soon as Lucifer's away from him, out of him. The longer we wait doesn't mean it'll irreversible, it just means Sam might not be thinking like Sam when we do finally approach him. Just be prepared for that." Castiel insisted, his hands grabbing Dean's shoulders and holding him firmly in place. "It'll be okay, we'll find a way to get rid of him without hurting Sam."

Dean nodded, "Is it fast? This... illness?"

"That all depends on Lucifer." Castiel stepped back again and looked at the screen, watching the reporter's swift retreat. "He seems patient for now but he'll probably push it to the limits as soon as Sam comes close to you, if anyone can change Sam's mind or influence him, it's you."

Dean smiled sadly, "Yeah? I guess it's hard to see it for me."

"That makes sense too." Castiel kissed his cheek and took his hand, "It'll be okay, we'll get Sam yet."

Dean nodded again and clenched his fingers around Castiel's, wishing it'd give him more comfort than it was. The news anchor came on and announced some specifics about the qualifying locations and set ups though Dean and Castiel weren't terribly concerned with them.

Castiel curled his bottom lip in, his mind racing and stumbling over itself. Yes they needed to get Lucifer away from Sam to save the younger Winchester from a manipulative poison, but how on earth could they do it? The only idea he had was to beat Lucifer in a fight and break into the connection space in Sam's conscience and tear the archangel out. But that involved fighting and beating Lucifer. Castiel knew that he and Dean had been labelled the 'perfect team', their bond was perfect, he was Dean's destined guardian angel and they were soul mates but even with all of that... Even with possible blessings from his Father, Castiel still wasn't certain they could beat the devil.

In fact, Lucifer would have to have made contact with Sam's mental state for the boy to know anything about Lucifer's whereabouts. The whole thing was a mess of questions and overpowering fear, Castiel didn't want to think about it.

* * *

Time seemed to blur together for the next few days, Sam sat anxiously waiting for the stupid qualifiers to start, his heart beating and pounding against his ribcage like a stressed man smashing his head into a wall. His hands were sweaty as he sat on a bench in the room set up for the contestants, they were up next and he was far from ready. His leg bobbed up and down as the stress rushed through him like an ocean of nerves bundled together and throbbing.

"Calm down, Sam." Gabriel smiled sadly, Sam had been allowed to sign up with both angels but only two angels were allowed in the arena at a time so he had to choose one to fight with. He'd chosen Lucifer, he refused to put Gabriel through something like this and Lucifer really seemed to want to do it.

Sam looked over at his angel, the bags under his eyes making him look older than he was, "How can I calm down? I'm about to walk into the arena of a place I hate to do something I can't stand. What the hell am I doing in here?" He dropped his head into his hands and sighed heavily, still attempting to calm himself regardless.

Gabriel sighed and wrapped his arms around the stressing giant, "It'll be fine... And hey, Lucifer says he knows what he's doing so don't worry about it."

"Right," Sam nodded slowly, a hand running through his hair. Because Lucifer was a perfect thing to depend on. Though at that moment he felt too weird to really do anything about it. Lucifer walked up beside him and stroked the side of his face gently. Sam glanced up at the surprisingly comforting smile of his second angel.

"Gabriel's right, you know. I'm positive it won't be an issue, just do what you always do."

"And that is what, exactly?" Sam asked tiredly.

"You're a bright kid, you've come up with all sorts of battle plans and strategies before, this is no different. You might take a moment to get used to the strength of our bond but that's it really." Lucifer shrugged.

Sam bit his bottom lip; somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that it had been a bad idea. He'd made the connection accidentally with Lucifer the first time before he'd managed to do it with Gabriel, that little foggy dream he'd had was proof enough. But now, because he was only allowed to use one angel, he'd had to use the spell to bind Lucifer to him as well. That spell wasn't just something to keep an angel tied down it locked them into the human's soul, increasing the strength of the bond and therefore increasing their chances of winning and making it to the tournament. Gabriel had originally be the only one that close to Sam and he would have regretted destroying that closeness but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to care as much as he wanted to, or as much as he knew he should.

Gabriel could feel the distance and as much as he wanted to say something he knew it wasn't his place, not anymore. He swallowed hard and looked away as his brother touched the human he'd fallen for, not just touch but mentally grope. Gabriel wanted to run away, he wanted to leave but he couldn't leave Sam alone with something like this. But then again, since he hadn't stopped it and had said nothing up to that point and would continue to say nothing about it, how was Sam not alone with this?

The sound of a bell rang and Lucifer headed toward the doors indicated to them earlier, "Come on then."

Sam rose to his feet, feeling shaky and out of sorts, completely out of his element of control and strength. He was used to running the show, used to knowing how things were supposed to play out and what was going on. Now he just felt like a sheep following the rest of the herd. He didn't even turn around when Gabriel shouted after him.

"Good luck."

The stadium was in a state of confusion when Sam walked out, Lucifer's many wings spread proudly and his walk confident but Sam couldn't say the same for himself. He stumbled and nearly froze when the full view of the arena overwhelmed him. He could hear his heart beating against his ear drums and shook his head. "No..." he whispered.

Lucifer reached over and touched his face again, "Go back to sleep." He said smoothly.

Sam's eyes popped wide open, he stared up at Lucifer as he remembered the foggy nightmare he'd had a long time back. "What?" He mumbled but his mouth barely moved for him and before he knew it the world seemed to blur together and he found himself standing at the ring's side. He felt like he was watching the fight unfold but every single thing that happened was deliberate, their connection was strong and somehow, even though he didn't understand or realize he was doing it, he was the one in control of the fight. Or was Lucifer in control of him in control of the fight?

"Oh my god... Sam and Lucifer win. Someone get a medic over there!"

The call was made already and Sam could barely recognize that it had begun at all. He mouthed the same 'what' he had earlier but he didn't say it, or at least no one answered it so he couldn't really be sure it had been heard or if he'd spoken the word at all.

Even though all of this should alarm him, frighten him to no end and make him want out, he felt calm He was mentally okay with it as he walked back toward the arena's exit. As he did he'd passed by Gabriel standing in the doorway and somehow had completely missed the horror stricken expression his angel wore.

Lucifer followed Sam with a sinister smile, not giving Gabriel the slightest glance as he passed.

Gabriel couldn't take his eyes away from the mess that had been made during the fight. Lucifer hadn't harmed the angel in any way but every human in the stadium had been. A large hole had been blasted through the stands by a ricocheted shot; one Gabriel knew had been on purpose. He watched as medical teams rushed in, some of them shaking their heads as they looked at the mangled body of the human who had been Sam's opponent. Or was it Lucifer's opponent? Gabriel had come to know the gentle soul that was Sam Winchester and there was no way that boy would ever do something so hideous, not on purpose. He'd die first, Gabriel was certain of it.

He turned away from the bloodied room and followed Sam and Lucifer in the corridor. Part of him wanted to scream and shout about how Sam had left him behind, had betrayed him and went off with another angel. Part of him wanted to curl into a ball, or run away and forget this ever happened but he knew better than any of that. He hadn't protected Sam, he hadn't done what he swore he'd do and now the love of his life had been overrun by his brother, the devil. Sam was losing himself if he hadn't already lost. Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut and smacked the wall with a balled fist, "Damn it!" he cursed, slumping to his knees. What the hell could he do?


	13. Chapter 13

The world had come to know who the Freedom Fighters were and what they stood for, how they accomplished things and after that video people had seen all of the outrages for themselves. Sam Winchester was a fresh name despite his ties to Dean; no one would confuse the two. He was right, based on the things he'd shown the world no one could deny that he was right in fighting back, in defending angels. And now, regardless of whether or not it was Sam's intent, the world knew his moral ground regarding the tournaments. People who had gone to watch the thing in person had been punished. No one had died, aside from the owner of the other angel, though there had been many injuries.

In the word's eyes, Sam Winchester had spoken regarding tournaments and he'd definitely made it clear concerning what he thought of humans owning angels. What the world didn't know was that they were actually following Lucifer's example, the angel pulling strings he'd placed in Sam's back.

In different parts of the world people started to act, every person they saw that had an angel at their side was beaten. Of course the angels were forced to fight back in majority of these cases but that didn't save the human from being hit the first few times. Sometimes instant kills were the first strikes on these people; the rioters were getting smarter in how to approach these situations. Some people took to the streets and preached like the old days, some walked up to other people and asked them about the angels and how they felt personally.

The turnouts for the qualifying tournament that Sam was attending had dwindled a bit, people in the audience were now protected from the heavy-duty angel barriers, nothing angelic could get past. It had been assumed that no angel would be so powerful that every time he attacked there'd be a shockwave but Lucifer was capable of that kind of strength by barely flapping a single wing. He smiled when he saw the defence that had been erected for the viewers, that the tournament committee had acknowledged his presence and how much damage he could do.

Sam's expression was distraught as he entered the arena again; his limbs still shook like they had the first time. Somewhere in his mind he knew he didn't want to be here, he didn't want to hurt anyone but for the life of him he couldn't stop walking. Marching to the same mind numbing war drum as any owned angel would have to. In one fleeting moment of control he looked back to Gabriel who stood in the corridor behind them, their eyes met and Gabriel tore his away, not able to look at Sam.

Sam's heart sank as his body trudged forward, a dull pain thudding against his ribs. He'd hurt Gabriel, he'd somehow chosen Lucifer instead, how could he do that to his angel? What was wrong with him?

Gabriel saw it from a different angle entirely; he couldn't watch the tormented expression etched into Sam's beautiful features. Those pleading eyes, begging him for something he couldn't bring himself to do. "I'm so sorry, Sam." Gabriel whispered as he watched Lucifer whisper in Sam's ear and Sam's mind drifted backward to make room for Lucifer's control.

The match started and ended nearly as fast, the opposing angel could barely shift his stance before Lucifer had launched several projectiles, none of which actually aimed for that angel. To make it look a little less like directly aiming to kill the human opponent one of the attacks blasted that angel backward. Of course it was a very weak attack and would do little to no damage to the angel but there was no way a human could withstand it, the twitching almost-corpse was proof of that.

Sam's mind tried to snap back into place after witnessing it, his heart nearly stopping in his chest. "No!" He choked out but it was stifled to the point that it was barely audible. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees, everything in him was fighting the controlling hand but there was nothing he could do to push it back. His eyes rolled back as he blacked out, unconscious before the rest of him crashed to the arena floor.  _'This is what it must be like for them...'_  Sam's mind drifted off again as everything around him vanished to his senses.

"SAM!" Gabriel burst forward and to his human's side, "Sam! Wake up!" He cursed under his breath and curled Sam against him, "Sam..."

"Let go of him, brother." Lucifer stepped closer and reached a hand down for Sam, "We both know he's mine now."

Gabriel trembled, his limbs tightened and he was sure he would stand up this time. He would stand up for Sam. As much as he told himself this he still remained frozen as Lucifer yanked the limp body from his arms, he looked up and watched Lucifer's back walking away, Sam's legs hanging off one end and his head rolled back carelessly on the other. "...At least cradle his head..." Gabriel muttered sadly and turned away again, his gaze drifting past the black body bag being carried away.

* * *

Dean and Castiel sat together in the last interview before the world tournament, their hands firmly clasped together and squeezed tightly shut. Castiel could feel his heart rate racing which was odd since he was so used to the publicity already. And yet he knew why at the same time, he knew they'd ask questions about Sam and he knew that the grip Dean had on him would tighten further and there'd be a burst of anger between them. He was nervous; he didn't want to see Dean hurt over Sam anymore.

Their interviewer was Miss Masters again; apparently she'd done a good job the first time. "So I have to ask first, how have you been sleeping, Castiel?"

"Much better, actually." Castiel fidgeted a little and glanced over at Dean who smiled at him. "I still have nightmares but Dean's always there with me when I wake up so it's not as bad. I wake up and know that I'm still there with him, safe and sound in our bed so... it's easier going back to sleep the second time, knowing that."

She smiled and nodded, "And will you be okay in the tournament? It's not going to have any comfy beds this year."

"I know," Castiel sighed, "I'll miss the hotel rooms." He laughed lightly, "But when it comes to the tournament I think I'll be too distracted to really want to sleep."

Dean's thumb brushed over Castiel's fingers gently, "I know you're going to ask," Dean looked at Masters carefully, "So I'll ask you first, what do you think of the qualifying tournaments this year?"

She smirked, knowing full well that these two had a tendency to take the spotlight away from hosts, "I think most of them were normal except one a state or two west of here, where your brother was fighting."

Dean nodded; he'd watched the news coverage of each qualifier, gauging opponent's strengths and weaknesses though mostly watching for friends and family. Anna and Chuck had done miraculously well, though Anna had mentioned during one of their first meetings that she'd been in a few tournaments before. The ones that Sam had fought in though, those were too hard for Dean to really want to remember. Castiel had been more than right about that illness thing, Sam was far from himself. He seemed absent, he was there but he wasn't mentally present and that scared Dean to no end. Sam's second match had ended in his victory, of course but it had also ended in the death of his opponent and Sam had fallen unconscious at the end. No one who won that easily and that fast would ever pass out like Sam had; Dean couldn't wait for the month's wait to be over. They were almost there, he was so close to talking to his little brother and yet he knew that he'd be far from actually talking when they met again. Sam wasn't himself.

"Sam's gotten a bit serious," Masters continued, "Lucifer's attacks are too much for any of the angels to withstand and hold their ground so they end up being hurdled backward and basically every time the human ends up with a few holes drilled in them." She shook her head, "I wouldn't fight that, if I had a choice. Are you two going to fight, Dean? He is family."

"I don't want to, no." Dean shook his head, his teeth ground together anxiously.

"We have to." Castiel said sternly, "Sam needs us and I'll be damned to hell if I can't save him."

"Save him?" Masters raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean save him? He's the one trying to save angels."

"Yes but he's gotten in too deep... No one should ever be connected to two angels at once, let alone archangels. Sam has Gabriel and Lucifer at his beck and call, or so it appears... Lucifer seems to do the beckoning." Castiel didn't want to let too much on but he couldn't help it. He shook with anger at the thought, that one of his own would stoop so low and control a human worse than humans had done to them. And that wouldn't bug him as much as it did if Lucifer hadn't done that to Sam, the sweetest boy he'd ever met, the first light of hope he'd seen.

"Cas?" Dean leaned forward, watching the crease between Castiel's eyebrows deepen.

Castiel looked at Dean, his jaw clenched tightly, "I can't let him get away with this..."

At first Dean thought Castiel meant Sam but that wouldn't make sense, he must have meant Lucifer. "He won't, Cas. We'd never let him, I don't think he can beat us with Sam like that anyway."

Castiel nodded and exhaled shakily, letting his anger go without blowing up. "What exactly are you planning to avenge?" Masters piped in again curiously.

"Sam," Castiel said blatantly, "His freedom, mostly. What I can't understand is why Gabriel hasn't done something about it. Sam was with him first, why would he sit back and watch this?"

"No idea," Dean shrugged, "But you'll get a chance to ask him next week. They qualified last night and the cruise ship leaves next Wednesday."

"Are you excited for this tournament at all?"

"I was..." Castiel shook his head, "I thought I'd had a good feeling about it but I'm starting to wonder... I don't think it will end well."

"What kind of good feeling?" She asked gently, not wanting to push too hard.

"I realize now that it was a hope, a wish and not something foretelling. I was hoping that this tournament would be the one that ended it all, that would stop all of this. I'm not saying, combined with everything that's happened this year, this tournament won't push forward in our goal. I'm just a little more realistic about how it might go." Castiel looked down to where Dean's hand hadn't let go of him and likewise he hadn't let go of Dean.

"Well, as the defending champions and a crowd favourite, I wish the two of you luck with this. It'll be harder and more dangerous this year than it has been, don't get hurt." She smiled kindly at them.

"Thanks," Dean returned the gesture. "I think we might need the luck this time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could make commercials for this lol Oh the crazy things that happen in my mind XD It'd be a promo for chapter 14, the start of the tournament and all the epic music and dramatic camera shots! XD


	14. Chapter 14

Hearts pounding, blood rushing from one side of the body to another, legs felt weak and ready to buckle beneath their feet. People stood on the docks staring up at the large cruise ship ready to take the contestants away, angels and humans alike mixed up in the crowd though most notably was the large team of people all dressed in the same type of uniform. The Freedom Fighters stood with their leader ahead of them; Sam gave them a single nod as a goodbye and headed for the boarding gate, both of his angels following his footsteps. Lucifer's hand traced the small of Sam's back, keeping his territory close and making a statement to the brother a few steps behind.

Dean and Castiel were up at the front alongside Crowley, someone they were more than used to by now. Castiel looked over all the faces, many of them he recognized by now. Being in the same field for over five years, you tend to learn who else is alongside you. Many faces were new though and he was confused as to why, probably because they were normally too weak to really fight in the bigger tournaments and now it didn't matter their strength so much.

"Alright, opening ceremony time." Crowley started, his smile wide, nearly splitting his face in two. "You'll only get to hear these rules once this time so listen up! The rule about how many angels can take part in a fight has been disbanded for this tournament; you can fight in a group of as many of you that are present if you wanted. However this year the winner of a match doesn't necessarily mean you win the tournament, everyone has been given some kind of item unique to their team. When you lose a fight you have to give that item to the winner but if there's a big mess of fighters then it get s to be a little difficult to discern who beat who and etcetera. Just keep it clean, I suppose. You will be considered the winner if you have the most items in hand,  _and_  you have beaten the current world champions."

Castiel shifted uncomfortably as he watched all eyes angled in his and Dean's direction. They were going to be a big target. And just as he was considering the difficulty of this tournament, Lucifer came into view and Castiel knew full well that Sam couldn't be terribly far behind him. Gabriel popped up next with a much taller individual, and at first Castiel wondered where Sam could be though he quickly realized the one towering over Gabriel was the boy he'd been looking for. He glanced at Dean who couldn't take his eyes off his little brother, what on earth was he going to say? What could he say? It wasn't exactly as easy as 'hey it's been a while, what's up?' Or maybe it could be...

"So blah blah blah rules and so on," Crowley sighed, bored. "There aren't that many rules this year but if your team is without an item after twenty four hours you're out entirely. Any means can be used to defeat your opponents and everyone here already signed the papers stating we are not responsible for your possible deaths, otherwise you wouldn't be allowed in obviously."

It was understood that this year was more dangerous than any other; humans were thrown into the mixture with the battling angels and killing was definitely allowed. Castiel looked at all the faces again and bit his lower lip, many of them he would never see again. As he scanned he spotted certain familiar angels he hadn't seen since his first tournament, Balthazar and Michael being among them. His hand flinched, about to wave to his old friends though he recognized that he was standing at the front of the crowd and just about anyone could assume he was waving at them. Better save it for later.

"All that being said, the island is a controlled space and we can tell if you're cheating and we'll know when you've been without your item for more than twenty four hours. There will be announcements throughout to cover anything I've missed. I'm sure some of you have a read some silly book that resembles this kind of thing and I assure you that's not where the big wigs got the idea for this tournament, this is something that's been in the works before we even knew that series existed."

"What's he talking about?" Castiel muttered, leaning over to Dean to whisper closer.

"Not much, some people speculated online that the Angel Battle System heads were ripping off a book series and trying to recreate it or something. Crowley's just covering his bases; don't worry too much about it." Dean smiled at his fiancé and kissed his cheek.

Castiel returned the gesture and readjusted his stance, ignoring the light blush on his cheeks. He loved that Dean could still do that to him, heat his body up with just a simple motion.

"Everybody get on the boat, it'll be a little while before we get there so you'll all have rooms to crash in. As you board these fine men here will give your team its item, no stealing until the actual tournament begins." He smiled and was about to leave when he had to pause, " Mind your manners; this is a very expensive ship." Crowley turned around and headed onboard, leaving several people to step forward and take names and so forth.

Castiel and Dean were the first ones of course, taking a solid gold locket hanging from a similarly made chain. Castiel furrowed his brow at it as they continued forward to let the line move behind them; his fingers traced the intricate carvings and curves of the thing until he decided to open it. The image spaces were empty at first but a beautiful light shone and as Castiel looked back he stared down at an image of Dean on one side and a picture of them together on the other. "It's magical..." Castiel mused happily, showing Dean.

"Wow, a little 'me' centric, isn't it?" He reached over and snatched it from Castiel's fingers. It shone again, this time the main picture changed from his face to Castiel's, the other remaining the same. "Oh... Weird."

Castiel squinted and took it back again, "There's Enochian on the back..." he scanned it quickly and smiled, "Oh... that's so cute..."

"What?" Dean was thoroughly enjoying the adorable expression on his angel's face.

"It's enchanted; it shows you the one you love most." Castiel put the chain around his neck and clasped it shut, "I'll wear it."

"Shouldn't that be a team decision?" Dean teased.

"Did you want to wear it?" Castiel offered, "I could always-"

"You keep it, it suits you." Dean took his hand and started walking, "It'll be a while before everyone's on board, let's head to our room for a little while."

"But what about Sam?" Castiel asked softly, glancing back toward the mass amounts of people.

"He'll be on the ship later too..." Dean lowered his head for a moment, "I just... I don't know what to say to him, or if he'll even listen. You and I both know he hasn't been himself."

"He's not always under Lucifer's control though I suspect that if Sam were fully conscious he wouldn't be here." Castiel shook his head, "We'll figure something out, don't worry okay?"

"I'm not worried," Dean turned a half smile back Castiel's way, "I just don't want to mess up our reunion, you know? Though at the same time I have so much I want to say to him, I want to yell at him and I want to hug him and... I don't know anymore."

"Whatever happens happens. You can't force it, Dean. Nothing will ever be the perfect moment you imagine, something will mar it and you will have to either remember it for the beautiful miracle it was or remember the screw up. Either way, it will happen and you will live with whatever comes out." Castiel pulled Dean to a stop and made him turn around to face him. "All you can do is be you, Dean. Say what you need to, hit him if you have to, just don't not say something because you're scared of how he'll take it."

Dean's bottom lip quivered and he nodded, letting Castiel wrap arms around him and hold him close. "Thanks, Cas." He whispered softly, "I love you."

Castiel smiled and nuzzled Dean's cheek affectionately, "I love you too, and you're welcome." He returned his hand to Dean's and held it tightly, "Now, to rest in our room for a bit before mingling."

"Right." Dean smiled and followed closely, fingers curling further around Castiel's.

* * *

After they boarded Sam immediately went to his room and sat down on the bed. He'd just seen Dean, of all people to notice first in a crowd he had to look up at the front to see his older brother's estranged stare. In the last few hours Sam's mind had slowly de-fogged itself and he'd regained full consciousness, he could move himself properly and remember what he'd done moments before. Though recalling the past few hours wasn't the only thing coming to mind, memories surfaced and bubbled in his mind. He knew what he'd done; he knew what he and Lucifer had done to get to this point. Ever single human opponent had been killed or hurt severely.

Sam curled up into the sheets wishing he could disappear, what had he become? What had he done?

"Sam?" Lucifer walked in, sealing the room from Gabriel's presence as he did so, and closed the door. "What's got you so upset?"

"You know what." Sam snapped bitterly, "I... we killed those people..."

"Well really they were your orders I was following," Lucifer said casually, his forked tongue practically dripping with poisonous words. "Thing is, I don't think you were totally prepared for my kind of power... You've been really out of it lately."

Sam didn't have anything to say to that, he knew that his mind hadn't been working properly and he knew that things had been very off with him.  _'Is it just because I can't handle something like Lucifer?'_  He thought dismally,  _'I killed those people? I told him to... I told him to kill. I'm responsible for all of this, what the hell is wrong with me?'_

"Don't beat yourself up." Lucifer dropped onto the side of the bed, his usual calm demeanour getting on Sam's nerves. "You weren't prepared to control me-"

"That's not an excuse!" Sam nearly exploded, lurching forward until he was nose to nose with Lucifer, "What I've done to get to this point... I don't know what to do now." He dropped backward again, his shoulders slumped miserably.

"Keep going." Lucifer shrugged, "After all of the things you've done and put others through, what else is there to do but keep going until it's done?"

Sam bit his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut, a light sob escaping him. Lucifer smiled and placed a deceptively comforting hand on the young man's shoulder, his influence still helping Sam's decisions along a little bit. After all, Sam worked best under his own control and he honestly followed a plan if he thought he made the choice to do it himself. "It'll be okay." He said softly, letting Sam rest his head against him.

* * *

Out on the deck many teams were mingling and talking about all the things they had in common, who's side they were on, which Winchester was more impressive and things like that. Other teams were a little more serious about the situation and separated from the groups. Bella and Michael stood further away from others; they shook their heads simultaneously as a few people walked by going on about how awesome the experience was going to be.

"Green, all of them." Michael sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I wonder if they've noticed that Lucifer's onboard. Or maybe that he killed nearly every human he's faced so far."

"Probably not," Bella said in a very non-committal way, "But they'll figure it out."

Michael looked at her with a bit of a laugh and shook his head again, "Always a friendly one, aren't you?"

She smirked and kicked his shin lightly with her boot, "Shut up."

"Michael, long time no see." It was Balthazar, walking over with the brightest of smiles on his face. "You haven't been in any tournaments since five years ago."

Michael smirked, "Hello, Balthazar. And no, I haven't but from what I've seen, neither have you. Your human not entirely sociable after your fight against Raphael?"

"Turns out Azazel didn't want a useless angel." Balthazar shrugged, "So he handed me off to the nearest place that could pay for me. I ended up being a prize in some contest." He shuddered, "Some of the people you meet during those kinds of experiences just... Just awful, I have to say."

Michael raised an eyebrow, "But you're here now, what gives?"

"I do." A small, skinny guy with big ears and big eyes waved as he strolled over from the spread of food laid out for them.

Balthazar's expression remained the same aside from the subtle rising of his eyebrows, "This is Garth."

"Nice to meet you." Garth grinned widely, his hand sticking out for either Michael or Bella both of which glanced at one another first.

"Michael," Michael decidedly took his hand and shook it firmly.

"Old world champions, can't believe you two are out in the open again. Where'd you go?" Garth asked eagerly as he changed to shake Bella's hand.

"We had to do some... thinking." She answered briefly, taking her hand back again.

"And training." Michael smiled a little, his gaze lingering back on her. "We've gotten better."

"Scary." Garth mused, "But I'm sure if anyone stands a chance against Lucifer in this thing it'll be you, Michael." He gave a slight salute with his hand, not entirely appropriate for the situation or conversation they were having, "I believe you can do it."

"Right," Michael offered a sympathetic smirk to Balthazar who just shook his head.

"Is this a reunion of angels who were beaten by Castiel?" Raphael asked with a huff of laughter as he walked over to them.

"Not at all, if you recall I beat Cas." Balthazar raised his hand, "The only one who did, actually."

"And I beat you so it goes full circle." Raphael pat his shoulder, appearing in better spirits just like everyone else. "New human?"

"Yep, you too I see." Balthazar looked at the woman following Raphael's lead, light brown hair and a pretty face.

"Her name's Annie," Raphael introduced her humbly, "It's a bit of a story but suffice to say she saved me from the last one."

"Victor wasn't so bad." Michael raised an eyebrow at that.

"No but he also had no further use for me, he'd sold me to someone else that Annie was actually working for." Raphael shrugged, "One thing led to another and to another, someone died and here we are."

Balthazar laughed, nearly sputtering out his drink as he did so, "I like how non-chalantly you recall that story."

They shared a laugh or two, somehow finding the time to enjoy themselves with the looming doom hanging over them. "So why is everyone here today?" Michael asked after an hour of gathering the courage to do so.

"Garth wants to try his hand at taking on the world champions," Balthazar rolled his eyes, "That and I may have wanted to see Cas, maybe. I don't know." Everyone saw through his 'I don't really care for that little idiot' tone, he missed the scrappy pest.

Michael smiled and nodded, "I'll admit, facing Castiel and Dean again was a big factor in our return. But mostly I've had the feeling that this tournament will change something, I wanted to take part."

"I had that feeling as well," Raphael nodded, "Something will happen this year, though I think the return of Lucifer has been a big part of that already. What's everyone's take on Sam Winchester? He has two of the top four archangels with him, that takes some will power."

"It's also stupid," Garth pointed out, "Why would anyone need more than one angel? Seems over kill."

"Regardless he's still going to kick your ass," Annie laughed at the smallest individual present, "I mean he doesn't need both but we have to remember that he has both. And about why Raphie and I are here, it's because of Sam. That video he showed the world, it's pretty intense."

"And ugly." Bella nodded, "I have to say it also factored into why we're here. I want to meet this Sam, there's something complex about him."

"We owe him a thank you, of sorts." Michael agreed, "Though from what I've seen recently Lucifer has his claws in the poor boy."

"Claws?" Garth asked curiously, "Like literally or...?"

"Did you see big claws dug into Sam's back? No not literally." Balthazar bopped his human on the head for the stupid question. "Lucifer has been controlling Sam's mind somehow, I have a really bad feeling about it."

"I looked into it," Michael added, "Theory is that Lucifer is Sam's angel the same way that Castiel was meant for Dean."

"Oh well then we're royally fucked, aren't we?" Balthazar could only laugh at the news.

"Yeah, kind of." Michael nodded slowly. "It's the only theory I could come up with that explained how Lucifer could give Sam his location without ever meeting him. Only the human meant for Lucifer could ever open the cage he was locked in but there's no way Sam could have stumbled onto the place on his own. Lucifer connected their minds before hand, probably slowly leeching off him for a long time already. His roots are deep in Sam's psyche, it'll take a lot to wriggle that free."

Raphael shook his head, "Well we're all definitely screwed then... I have an idea." He smiled widely, "We team up."

Everyone looked at him for a moment, none of them entirely sure of how to take that. "Seriously? It's a tournament, one winner and all that." Garth spoke up first, saying something most of them were thinking.

"Yes but as it stands the only one who will win will be Lucifer. Michael and I know firsthand that Lucifer isn't going to play nicely with the humans. He's got a plan and he's carrying it out by using this tournament somehow, I can't say that I know exactly what he's planning but I'm sure the death of every human is on his list." Raphael looked over at Annie sweetly for a moment, "I'd rather not let him do that."

"It isn't guaranteed that Lucifer will win," Michael spoke proudly, partially regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth. "We'll all be there fighting too."

"Except we've already realized that Sam will have a perfect connection to Lucifer during the fights. Castiel, a weak angel from the Garrison, managed to beat you, Michael. With his perfect bond he was able to beat you, stronger in every way possible. Imagine what Lucifer will be like in the same situation. We are all screwed, the teams standing right here can't possibly compete and we all know that." Raphael said sternly.

Michael nodded after a moment and sighed, "He's right." He looked at Balthazar who could only agree at this point. "So who's all for teaming up, then?"

Garth and Annie raised their hands, "Definitely."

"Us too." A shaky voice piped in, a scruffy, timid looking man approaching as well.

No one recognized the man but the angel's faces lit up at the sight of Anna, "Hi guys." She smiled brightly. "So we're all joining forces for this one, huh?"

"Looks that way." Balthazar grinned and moved to give her a hug.

She appreciated the gesture and squeezed her brother in return, "I'm glad you all think so. I was going to spend the tournament defending Castiel, actually."

"An even better idea," Michael's eyes lit up as he looked over at Bella, an indication that they were sharing thoughts at this point. "We'll work as a team and make sure Castiel makes it to the end of this thing. I mean that means some of us won't be able to fight him and Dean but I think we'll survive if we don't do that."

"I guess..." Garth sighed.

Balthazar folded his arms and furrowed his brow in thought, "Though I have to wonder, what's the point in joining a tournament and then spending it defending another team that will probably do better on its own?"

Raphael looked over at him, "The tournament will begin as soon as we hit land meaning there'll be one hell of a fight right off the boat. We should definitely stick together during that first skirmish-"

"Actually they're letting us spread out first." Bella interrupted and all eyes shifted to her. "What? I read a few documents that maybe didn't belong to me." She shrugged.

"Okay then..." Raphael's eyebrow twitched in agitation. "Regardless we need to make sure that Castiel doesn't lose, he's our only chance to take Lucifer down."

"So we defend him throughout the tournament while we also compete," Michael joined in again, "We all know that Lucifer will probably target Castiel and Dean at some point, there's no way Sam entered this thing to not win." He looked at the agreeing expressions on his comrades faces and smiled, "And gather as many items as you can during this, no one else can win if we have them all."

"Deal, and if Lucifer ends up not being an issue then we go for the title." Balthazar smirked and everyone shook on it though most of them didn't kid themselves in pretending that Lucifer wouldn't be a threat.


	15. Chapter 15

Dean and Castiel stepped out onto the deck after two hours in their room; they may as well talk to some of the other teams before having to pound them into the dirt. Castiel didn't want to fight the weaker teams but Dean knew better, the weak teams would be easy to take down without actually hurting anyone and they were the easiest targets for quick accumulation of items. Dean used to play video games with Sam and the 'take down the weakest first to get points really fast' was a big strategy. Of course, everyone skilled and knowledgeable in the field would know who the weakest teams were just by a glance. Everyone would be targeting them.

"It's going to be intense." Dean admitted as they walked toward the groups of people, "Not sure how we'll do in the long run."

"I'm not worried..." Castiel said unconvincingly, he spotted a small crew of people gathered together and his eyes lit up. "No way!" He hurried over, tugging Dean along behind him. "Balthazar, Anna, Michael and Raphael." He chimed happily as he stopped next to them, "How is everyone?"

"Cas," Anna and Balthazar said in unison, the two closest to him emotionally, they both went to hug him and squeezed him until he made a strange squeaking noise.

Dean laughed and pat Chuck's shoulder, "Good to see you made it this far."

"Not as easy as she made it sound." Chuck offered a smile.

"Wow!" Garth walked closer to admire, "Dean Winchester in the flesh! Nice to meet you, I'm Garth." He stuck his hand out which Dean took just by habit.

"Garth, nice to meet you too. Who's your-"

"Angel? Balthazar is." Garth beamed, "Won him in a contest."

"Wow..." Dean glanced over at Balthazar with a grin, "How the mighty have fallen."

"Definitely," Michael said with a laugh, "Good to see you, Dean."

"Likewise." Dean replied, glancing over at Bella who smiled politely in return. "Hey Bella."

"Dean," She said simply with a nod and moved to take Michael's hand, just a gesture to show Dean the little differences he and Castiel had made.

Dean smiled wider and looked back to the others, he was about to say something when someone caught his eye. Sam walked across the deck, hazel eyes swept over them briefly and Dean could tell it took everything Sam had to make sure his gaze didn't linger. Dean frowned and followed his brother, "Excuse me." He muttered as he left.

Castiel looked up and moved to follow though Anna's hand touched his shoulder, "You should give him a moment with his brother." She said gently.

Castiel opened his mouth to say he missed Sam too but he saw where she was coming from and nodded his head instead. He looked up at where Dean had reached Sam's side, carefully making sure nothing bad was going to happen.

"Sam!" Dean grabbed the now taller male's arm and turned him around. He stared up into distressed eyes that looked away for a moment before turning back.

"Hi... Dean." Sam spoke softly, his gaze barely remaining in contact with Dean's.

"Why would you walk past us?" Dean let go of Sam's arm and took a better look at his brother. Sam was tall though he was still pretty skinny, he hadn't worked in all the muscle that Dean had. Granted Sam wasn't a slouch, he was fit and looked really good, mostly.

"I... didn't know how to approach you in such a big group..." Sam said lamely, he'd been feeling the weight of what he'd done and what he'd have to continue doing in the last few hours and wasn't entirely in the mood to discuss it with his brother.

"Just come and say hi or something." Dean felt tears sting the back of his eyes, his lip quivering for a moment. "I missed you, Sammy."

Sam looked up, his eyes reddened for the same reasons as Dean's. His big brother still missed him, after all of the things he'd done, had left Dean without any answers, had blown apart several buildings and now killed and injured at least a dozen people. Dean still missed him. "I... I don't know what to-"

Dean wrapped his arms around Sam, forcing his brother to lean forward a bit; he inhaled a shaky breath and sniffled back any mucus that may have ruined the moment. "I love you, Sam." He mumbled into Sam's shoulder, his grip tightening on the younger man. "No matter what, okay? Just... don't run away from me."

Sam stared forward in shock but soon crumbled into Dean's arms, a wrecked sob shuddered out of throat followed by several others. He couldn't speak properly so he didn't even try, his hands finding the excess of Dean's shirt and curling his fingers into it.

Castiel relaxed and looked over to the others, Anna with her 'I told you so' face and everyone else didn't seem to care one way or another.

"Hey."

Everyone looked up to see Gabriel's tired face, a half smile on his lips for their sakes. "Gabriel?" Michael tilted his head at the sight, "What on earth happened to you? You look like hell."

"Well that's what I've been living with for the last little while." Gabriel shrugged, "Luci's not the sharing type, really."

"Kind of figured," Castiel looked him over again, "How is... what's your relationship with Sam?"

"It's good, all fine." Gabriel smiled wider; a little more convincing though the others weren't that stupid. "He's got Lucifer to do the fighting so I won't really have to; I mean he can use us both at the same time but who knows if he'll need to."

"Funny guy," Michael smirked half heartedly, "So then everything is okay with you and Lucifer? No problems?"

"Nope, we're good." Gabriel shrugged and looked at everyone, "Been a while though, how have you all been?"

"Great," Anna was the first to answer. "No complaints, not many anyway."

"After the last few years I've been doing much better," Balthazar said smoothly, "Though I'm sure you're more concerned with the other archangels present."

Gabriel laughed, "Nah, we're all siblings here, right? I'd like to hear about all of you, really. Any big stories I should know about?" he paused and looked at Castiel, "Not you though, I think everyone here knows yours."

Castiel stuck his tongue out but kept his mouth shut otherwise.

"It's been..." Raphael paused to consider the last few years and shrugged, "After the tournament five years ago I can't really find much to complain about either."

"Sounds like everyone's happy." Gabriel glanced at Michael who only tightened his hand around Bella's with a smile. "Nice. Well good, I'm very glad." He shifted awkwardly and looked to where Dean and Sam were in one another's arms. "Everything's... just fine."

"Gabriel, what is it?" Castiel asked, his voice low and nearly drowned in concern. "Please, at least tell me. I've known Sam for a while and the way he's been acting isn't normal. I'm really worried about him."

Gabriel stiffened and shrugged a bit, "Nothing... I can't handle. It's fine, Castiel."

Castiel bit his lower lip but nodded, he wanted to force Gabriel into a wall and demand answers but that didn't seem right to him. "...Okay..." he turned away and headed toward Sam and Dean, "I hope you can live with yourself if something happens to him and you've done nothing."

Gabriel closed his eyes when that one hit home. Castiel seemed to have a knack for sentimental moments and hitting the nail on the head.

"Sam," Castiel started sweetly, his eyes already tearing up as he spoke. "It is so good to see you."

Sam's lip quivered but he cleared his throat to greet Castiel properly, "Hi, Cas. I see you've been doing well without me around."

Castiel ignored the comment and went straight to hug the young man he'd missed so much, "I can't believe you're here." He whispered into Sam's chest.

"Cas..." Sam wrapped his arms around the angel as well, feeling a sense of overwhelming guilt. Dean and Castiel knew, of course they did, everyone knew about what Sam had done in the qualifiers. But what he didn't get was the fact that these two seemed so... Okay with it. How could they be? How could anyone be okay with what he'd done? "Why are you so friendly with me? I left you, I ran away and did all of this..."

"We love you, Sam." Castiel lifted his head without hesitation, "We love you and missed you so much. Every moment we had free was spent looking for you during the first two years, we kept our eyes open, our senses alert for the smallest glimpse of you this whole time. Every time we heard the name Sam uttered we both turned our heads to look, every single time. I know what happened in the qualifying tournaments," Castiel stroked Sam's arm gently, "And I know that you must be feeling very... unusual, not yourself. Am I right?"

Sam nodded a little though he didn't know what to say. "I... I can't really make an excuse for myself, there is nothing that I-"

"It isn't what you think it is." Castiel tried to explain though a hand clasped his shoulder tightly.

"Castiel, how are you?" Lucifer's voice rolled into his ears and sent a shiver down his spine.

"Lucifer..." Castiel turned to look at him, a violent glint in his eyes, "You... you..." He grit his teeth but swallowed his anger for the moment, "I'm fine." He answered decidedly, pulling away from his brother's grip. "And yourself?"

"Very well, actually." Lucifer wrapped an arm around Sam, hand resting on the younger Winchester's hip. "And you must be Sam's brother then, right?"

"Dean." He said evenly though he wasn't as good at controlling his anger as Castiel was. "Let go of my brother."

Lucifer frowned, his hand sliding along the slender torso of his human to show a little more dominance over him. "I don't see that happening, I am his angel, after all."

"Gabriel was first." Castiel interjected, swallowing any fear he may harbour for his older brother. "You should know that stepping over Gabriel's connection is wrong, Lucifer."

"Sam is  _my_  human, the one meant for me. Don't tell me I can't have him just because Gabriel got to him first." Lucifer said sternly.

Castiel froze at that, he had thought maybe but he didn't have any clearance to really know for sure. He held his breath for a moment, slowly exhaling it until he was ready to speak again. "Okay, that's fine then but what you're doing to him is harmful, you know this. I understand you're angry but-"

"Angry doesn't begin to cover it, Castiel." Lucifer smiled as he spoke, leaving an eerie sensation in Dean's mind. The archangel looked at Sam who he'd mentally dumbed down and overwhelmed for the moment, those puppy-dog eyes half-lidded and dazed, his legs barely able to hold him up. "I won't stop until they're finished. This will not end until they've seen my wrath and are scared and running for their lives. Humans and wretched little things," he mused stroking Sam's cheek, looking up at the slightly bewildered expression the young man was giving him. "Though I have to say I do like this one."

Dean snarled, "You'd better leave my brother alone or so help me-"

"What?" Lucifer laughed, "You'll do what, Dean? You and Castiel will trot over to us and defeat us like all the others? You forget already, I am Sam's angel the same way Castiel is yours. You don't stand a chance against me."

"Well we've got friends." Dean retorted firmly, "Who will not only watch our backs but give us a few secret weapons in return."

"Ah yes... I heard that God had a hand in a fight or two of yours, didn't He?" Lucifer sneered, "Where is he now?"

"Injured, missing." Castiel said solemnly, closing his eyes with the thought. "I... I think we can save Him if we worked together. Lucifer, please... These humans... They are flawed but they also have the capacity for the most amazing things, you'd be surprised what they can make you feel. At least think about it before killing them."

Lucifer snorted a laugh at that but said no more about it. "Come on Sammy." He urged his half-minded partner along who promptly followed without too much prodding.

"Sam..." Dean muttered as he watched his brother meander away, his mind disconnected and his company terribly unsavoury. "Damn it... Damn it!" Dean swung and smashed his fist into the nearest wall or decorated post, he wasn't sure which and frankly he didn't give a shit. Castiel stood silently and looked over to Gabriel, watching the tortured expression increase in his brother's features. Standing on the outside looking in Castiel could see clearly that Sam was under Lucifer's influence already when he went to free the long-trapped angel. Why hadn't Gabriel stopped him? Why did he let Sam loose something so destructive?

Regardless of the answer Castiel knew at least one thing in all of this; the big shoving action that would rally the people into a revolution had arrived in the form of a young Winchester and his angels. The cruise ship would dock in a few hours and after a head start the world tournament would begin. Things were about to get ugly.


	16. Chapter 16

Dean and Castiel had gone to their room not long after their conversation with Sam and Lucifer. They knew the tournament would start shortly and they knew that this was the last time they'd sleep in a nice bed for a long while. And despite that fact neither of them could sleep. Dean kept thinking about Sam, the mental state he was in and how much he would be tortured by the knowledge of all the things he'd done already. Castiel's nightmares continued to wake him and scare him half to death, every night they progressed further, deeper into the tortures of angels and the hideous things done to them. The last time he'd gone to sleep they were about to experiment on him, fuse him with some other beast like those hybrid creatures. He didn't want to dream that, despite that he knew it wasn't real, he was still too scared to face it.

They laid awake, staring at the ceiling, the wall, each other, it didn't matter. Castiel closed his eyes for the last hour and curled up in Dean's arms, fighting back tears that threatened to spill out and losing. Dean hushed him gently and kissed the top of his head, whispering comforting things that came to mind though all he wanted to do was cry, himself. It was a rough night for them.

When it was time they rose, quickly showered and walked out hand in hand. Castiel lifted his jaw higher, a proud expression coming over his features and hiding his fears. Dean cleared his throat and straightened his back, his gaze intense as it swept over the other teams one more time before they disembarked. Some of these people weren't going to make it home, he realized. The tournament heads had gone too far with this one, he could see that much.

Sam stared forward at the island, the lines of trees and open fields and god knows what else. He wondered how big this island was going to be, how many different terrains they'd be forced through. The boat had already dropped its anchor, Sam figured they'd be expected to fly the rest of the way, considering they were already past the barrier. He glanced around and spotted Dean and Castiel, they looked like the night before hadn't been terrible kind though he was pretty sure he didn't look much better. The thought crossed his mind, to say good morning like he used to, but somehow he felt he'd lost that privilege.

"As soon as you hear the signal it'll be time to start the tournament," Crowley called over the somewhat excited mutterings. "So you'll have some time to spread out though I'm not telling you how long. Good luck kittens."

Sam looked at Lucifer and Gabriel and gave them a nod, his expression stern as he gave them their cue. They were the first team to take flight, a gust of wind left in their wake as everyone watched them soar toward the island. That was all the other teams needed to lift off, though the space was somewhat limited so there was a bit of a struggle for the angels to get moving. Castiel stayed back with Dean and watched the flock of angels fly for the island, the thunderous sounds of their wings pounding their all at once echoed in his ears like a nightmare. It sounded just like it had that first day on earth, the mad dash to a location no one was really ready for.

"Ready for this?" Dean looked at his angel who took a slow and deep breath, "They're going to find all the good spots."

"Let them, I'd like to take a moment." Castiel looked at Crowley, the smug look on the man's face nearly making him ill. "What does the winner get out of all of this? Just the title?"

"Sort of, depends on the winner." Crowley shrugged, his grin widening as he started away, "Better get moving and find some high ground, things aren't going to be too friendly in a little while."

Castiel furrowed his brow and turned away again. "Dean..."

"Yeah?" Dean touched his hand gently.

"I love you." Castiel looked up with tears in his eyes, his jaw quivering as he struggled to keep from sobbing.

"Hey, hey, hey." Dean spoke softly as he pulled Castiel into his arms, "I love you too, Cas. What's wrong?"

Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean and buried his face against the man's neck, a shaky breath warming the skin their and sending a brief shudder down Dean's back. "I just... wanted to say it before all of this." He whispered.

Dean stroked the back of Castiel's head with one hand, the other firmly wrapped around his torso to hold him still, "Alright." He said quietly, "Well I'll still be with you for you to say it again, okay?"

Castiel nodded, staying like that for a moment until he felt calm enough to take flight. "Okay... Let's get going."

Dean took a quick breath and held it, "Ready." He didn't want to mention his fear of flying, not in this situation because frankly, it wouldn't help much. He knew he'd need to fly with Castiel this time, this tournament was going to involve a lot more from both of them than they were used to and it was definitely going to hurt more.

Castiel lifted Dean up and spread his wings, Dean stroked the feathers in a sort of calming motion for himself, remembering that these wings had saved his life more than once in the last few years, he should probably trust them a bit more than he did. Castiel smiled at the touch and immediately took to the skies, they didn't know how long they had until the bell would ring but they knew it wouldn't be too long now.

* * *

"Took them long enough to go." Crowley sighed, dropping down into his comfy chair, a scotch sitting ready and waiting at his side. He looked up at big monitors in front of him, several other executives to Angel Entertainment and some from Crystal Wings stared back at him.

"You realize that we don't really want Sam Winchester in this tournament." One of them said, an older man with a scraggly beard though he'd clearly attempted to comb it at one point. "He's dangerous and out of control. You saw what he did to Crystal Wings, why on earth would he join this tournament, he can't be after the title!"

"I understand that but we let him in for the shock value." Crowley smirked, "A lot of people are watching this, not only are we getting big ratings but people will remember this tournament. Plus I have an idea to solve our little... issue. Sam Winchester is violent, yes. But that won't win over the hearts of millions. Castiel is the one with pull, he's the one throwing a monkey wrench into everything. Without Castiel's influence, nothing Sam does will really hit home with people, he'll be just another terrorist fighting against the world's views."

"I see where you're going with this..." A female spoke up this time, she smiled at the thought. "But do you have the equipment necessary?"

"Not yet, that's why I was hoping Crystal Wings would lend me a hand in this one." Crowley looked over at the head of the once powerful company, "I don't suppose you have anything at your disposal?"

"Do I have anything at my disposal," the other man laughed, "Of course. What will you need?"

Crowley just smiled in return.

* * *

Sam looked around at the coast of the eastern side of the island, they'd done a quick fly over to take a decent look and he had to say it wasn't going to be easy to keep the high ground. The space wasn't as big as he'd expected considering how many teams were let loose all over it. In all likelihood Lucifer could probably wipe them all out in one giant blast wave though that wouldn't accomplish anything, plus Dean could get hurt.

"Looks promising," Lucifer smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, not bothering to put his wings away.

"Yeah..." Sam glanced over at Gabriel hoping the angel would say something, and yet all he saw was a heart break hidden behind a neutral expression.  _'Why won't you say anything to me?'_ He thought dismally,  _'Why do you think genius?'_  He scolded himself and looked back down at the water below. "So when the bell rings..." He looked up at Lucifer, determination replacing pain and fear. If he'd screwed up to this point Lucifer was right, the best he could do was push it further. That's all he could do, or at least all he could think to do.

"We give 'em hell." Lucifer looked out at the rest of the island, or at least what he could see from their vantage point. "Anyone you want to hit first?"

"First ones we see, I suppose. We need to take as many as we can get but to win we have to face Dean and Castiel... I guess we'll wait until everyone else is finished trying to take them down, when they're exhausted." Sam mused, "It sounds cheap but I don't want to risk them getting the upper hand, they've got more experience with these tournaments and fighting other angels than I do."

"Then we get practice before going up against them." Lucifer pat Sam's shoulder, "Not a big deal. Plenty of opponents though not many of them will be much of a challenge. Did you want to find the big contenders, like Michael and Raphael?"

Sam nodded slowly, "Yeah, that might be a good idea." He started walking casually, "Then it's settled, we'll fight whoever we come across and find the bigger challenges." He didn't want to admit it was a little intimidating to say they'd go and fight the world champions, the ones before Dean and Castiel, and the old runner up team of Raphael and his human. Sam didn't claim to be an expert in this field, not at all. He wasn't used to this set up but he was very capable of adapting, it wouldn't take much time. Though he had to wonder, when did this become about fighting in the tournament? He thought remembered discussing becoming a 'beloved figure' like Dean and Castiel, how could they do that when killing and hurting people? Maybe it was more about becoming known... People wouldn't forget his face, his name, not now. If his reputation combined with Dean and Castiel's then people were getting both sides of the same coin, getting the cold, ugly facts from one end and the hurt, loving feelings from the other.

He could deal with that. He'd have to, now.

* * *

Dean and Castiel touched down on the first beach, Castiel was very aware of the tenseness level of Dean's limbs and muscles and was very kind about it. He let his lover down onto the sand gently and watched as Dean wobbled about for a few seconds. "God, I hate flying."

"I don't think he cares." Castiel smirked and pat Dean's back slowly, comfortingly. "So what do we do? Just wait for the bell?"

"Yeah, all we can do. We're a big target so I doubt we'll have to hunt anyone down." Dean looked at the locket hanging around Castiel's neck, curious as to what kind of item the other teams might have. "So what do you think the prize for the winner is? Crowley seems to have something up his sleeve."

"I dunno... But I know what I'm going to ask for." His fingers traced the ring he'd been wearing for a while, the one Dean had given to him as a promise, their engagement. He looked up at the field the spread out from the beach, the tree line far in the distance. There were many teams running about on this island, way too many for the size of it. "This won't end well if this is all the space we get..."

"No kidding." Dean swallowed and straightened up, "One fight between, say Michael and Raphael and everyone on this thing is decimated, right? Not a very good idea-!" He was cut off when the ground beneath them started to shake and tremble, water rushing up at their feet. "What the hell!"

"I'll look." Castiel's wings spread and he launched into the air to hover above the tournament ground, watching it split in several places, different patches of land rising up from the center all the while the outskirts of it moved further and further away. He dashed back down and scooped Dean off the beach and back into the air, "It's getting bigger." He said solemnly, ignoring Dean's clinging fingers.

Dean looked down, his eyes widening as he watched the island grow at least four times its original size. "Holy... crap..." He muttered as several angels burst out of the trees and up from different areas of the island that was getting harder and harder to define the further some of the coasts moved. "I guess they thought the same thing we did..."

"Looks that way." Castiel said almost breathlessly. He looked up at the different teams that had been fearful enough to take flight though not a very big percentage of them. He realized that bigger players in this tournament had remained on the ground somewhere, he wondered if it was because they anticipated a big skirmish in the air or if they just weren't afraid of the island's movement.  _'They'll have to come up and look eventually, knowledge about how big the fighting space has become is something they'll need to know.'_

" _Don't worry about it, Cas. They'll figure it out one way or another."_  Dean joined his mental space easily, a safe feeling washing over him instantly. It'd been a while since they'd spoken internally, it was comforting for Castiel and Dean felt that wash of relief almost instantly.  _"Sorry, I guess maybe we should have tried this sooner."_

" _Don't worry about it, I'm just glad we did at all."_  Castiel smiled down at Dean who looked so cute clinging to him for dear life. "Let's go back down."

"Yeah. Let's do that." Dean nodded quickly, "Before someone attacks us in the air and I fall to my death."

Castiel laughed, "The bell hasn't gone off yet, we're still safe." Regardless he lowered them back to the ground and let Dean do the wobbly walk all over again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly I can't drag out the 'before the tournament' any longer, can I? So here goes nothing, I really hope it's as good as I pictured it to be -_-;

The bell was more of a gong as it echoed over the entire island, signalling the start of a sure to be difficult event for everyone. Castiel's wings lifted defensively the moment he heard it, his eyes scanned the area and sure enough a projectile was soaring through the air, straight for them. He deflected it easily, his left wing knocking it aside as if it were a rubber ball. "That didn't take long." He mused along with Dean who promptly turned toward the approaching team. "Going to take us down first, huh?"

"Worth a shot." The more than gung-ho human called out, sending his angel forward in a burst of speed.

Castiel rolled his eyes and lifted a hand, catching the angel in the chest and holding him there firmly, "Hello brother."

"Hi... Castiel." The other angel smiled, a little shyly at that. "Nice to see you."

"Likewise." Castiel smiled in return and sent a wave of energy through his brother, knocking the poor thing out cold. "Good night." He said softly and headed for the awestruck man.

"Wow... You're even better in real life..." He stared at the approaching angel, Castiel's features calm and elegant as he gracefully took their team's item.

"Thank you, you didn't do too badly for a beginner, either." Castiel looked over at the unconscious angel and sighed, "I would suggest hiding for a little while, avoid Lucifer if you can."

"Lucifer? Why would Sam come after me? I don't have anything anymore."

"He's not after your items, not particularly. Lucifer is out to kill or harm any humans that dared own an angel." Dean interjected evenly, walking over and looking at the shiny gold compass in Castiel's hand. He furrowed his brow in frustration; he knew that Sam was under Lucifer's hold because Castiel could see it but what about the rest of the world? It's not that easy to see something so different in a stranger, the world probably saw Sam as something of a monster, or at least an extremist.  _'Well he is an extremist, isn't he? He went as far as to blow things up before Lucifer was in the picture...'_  He shook his head and looked down at the guy, "Get moving."

"Right." He hurried to his angel's side and started dragging the limp body to a hiding place.

"Fight number one." Dean smirked and looked at Castiel who was turning in circles with the compass. "What's up?"

"It... it isn't pointing north. Useless thing..." Castiel muttered angrily. "I thought maybe we could use it, might come in handy, but no. Why would we get anything useful?"

Dean took it from his angel's hands and walked circles around Castiel. "It points at you." He smiled, "Let me guess, wherever you went it pointed at me?"

Castiel paused and nodded. "I guess it works like our locket."

"I like these things." Dean pocketed the compass and pat it down, "I'll always find my way to you now."

"You could anyway; our bond is like an invisible tether." Castiel laughed. "Anyway, did you want to just hang out here and wait for more opponents or should we do something?"

"Well think of it this way, Cas. You don't have to fight anyone unless they approach you. No one else can win this tournament if we haven't been beaten in a fight first. And even if they beat us, if we have more items than them we win anyway. I don't see how we can lose so let's relax for a bit, let them tire out." Dean shrugged and stretched his arms casually.

Castiel nodded thoughtfully, his brow creasing, "We need to find Sam. We have to fight Lucifer to get him out."

"How do we do that, exactly?" Dean crossed his arms, "Is it just 'we beat you so we win'? Lucifer won't just leave him, even if we kick his ass."

"I don't know, okay? I just know that we need to weaken Lucifer's hold on him..." Castiel wandered around in circles for a bit, not caring that he and Dean were out in the open plains terrain right next to the beach they'd arrived on. Anyone could find them at this point but anyone would find them regardless so it didn't matter where they were. Dean was right; the fights would come to them in droves so there would be no point in hunting others down unless he wanted to be ganged up on. It all sounded too easy and yet Castiel knew that Lucifer was out there with Sam, his fated human which meant a possible perfect bond. But Sam wasn't willing; not fully willing to give himself over to the devil so there was always a chance that the bond would be weaker. But again, when did Lucifer ever need someone's full cooperation to do what he wanted?

As Castiel circled in thought he lifted another hand and caught the arm of an angel hurdling toward him. He threw her to the ground just as easily as the other one, looking at her dismally, "Hello, sister."

Dean looked up to see a rather large man approaching and shifted his weight, knowing full well that this man was going to take a swing at him. "What's up big guy?"

The man smirked and came down hard, barely missing Dean as the smaller male dove to the side. When 'big guy' rose again he came nose to nose with Castiel who stuck his hand out calmly, "Your item, please."

"Wha-" the guy looked over at his angel, splayed out and unconscious on the nearby beach. He snarled and handed over a small golden ring box. "Damn it..." He stomped away to the beach grumpily.

"That's two." Dean walked over, dusting himself off casually. "Anything in it?"

"Nope, just a box." Castiel shrugged and put it in his coat pocket, mentally glad that they were allowed to wear whatever they wanted to this tournament. Dean got to wear his leather jacket and Castiel was allowed to wear a trench coat he'd grown fond of in the past few years.

"Fighting on the plains is easy but it's also easier for them, want to stay here?" Dean asked with a shrug.

"Let's look around the island; I'd like to get to know it." Castiel started walking, the wind catching his coat at the perfect angle and Dean couldn't deny how awesome his angel was in that moment. Something about the tournaments always got the adrenaline pumping and Castiel always seemed sexier with a purpose in his mind. Dean hurried after his angel, not wanting to be left behind and picked off; that would be a sucky way to lose this tournament.

* * *

"Wow, six already." Lucifer pulled a golden scarf from a human's neck and looked over at the angel left standing, "Your bond is broken for now but you can still fight which means you haven't technically lost this match, did you want to keep your scarf or can we take it?"

The angel shook his head and gathered his human partner, hurrying off into the distance.

"That was overkill, Lucifer." Gabriel frowned.

"Not just Lucifer." Sam muttered as he walked by, "Come on. We need as many items as we can and then we can fight Dean."

"When is this tournament considered over? I mean it's too easy to get a few more than everyone else and beat up one team." Gabriel decidedly ignored Sam's first comment.

"When they call it, I guess. Remember that each team has to be without their item until twenty four hours has passed. It'll probably be over when there's one team left standing on the island." Sam rolled his shoulders and leaned back to crack a few uncomfortable kinks in his spine. He glanced up, knowing that there were cameras on them from possibly all angles. His guess was that the barrier around the island also acted as one giant eye for the executives. He spotted a lens in a tree and stared into it, his expression bordering on deranged, he had no intentions of hiding the fact that he was here for a reason. No one would assume differently. "Come on, I'm starting to get the hang of this."

Gabriel scowled at Lucifer as they followed the leader, Lucifer's tongue sticking out at him playfully.

* * *

"You know in hindsight... It would probably have been a lot easier to just stick with one of the other guys..." Chuck muttered neurotically as he and Anna trudged away from a rather tough battle for them. In all honesty would probably have been pretty damn easy for a team like Dean and Castiel, the perfect bond and all that jazz, but for two regular individuals it was like a boss fight. "We can't really do much..."

"If you'd stop whining and get a little more courageous I think we'd do a lot better." Anna grumbled back, "You keep pulling your punches! Quit panicking and just fight already."

Just ahead of them an angel crashed throw the trees and across their paths. Judging by the way he was hurdling backwards he had probably been thrown or knocked back. Anna looked in the direction he came from, her wings arching defensively. The power she felt from that direction increased as the team closed in, her heart pounded hard in her chest though maybe that was because of the connection to Chuck who sounded terrified behind her.

Relief washed over her when she spotted Balthazar and Garth walking after the angel from moments before. Garth looked up at her, a somewhat intense expression on his face that didn't seem to suit him. It vanished pretty fast, though, when he recognized her. "Anna, Chuck!" He waved at them emphatically, "Wow, nice to see you guys." He hopped over a few branches and marched up to them, she could swear he got shorter the closer he came. "How have you been doing?"

"Two fights," Chuck beamed happily.

"You won two? Good for you guys." Garth nodded.

"More like we lost the first one and won the second." Anna added bitterly.

Balthazar laughed after collecting a mini golden globe with the height of his thumb and shoving it into his pocket. "So you lost your item and then won one back? That's... not that bad." He held back another laugh when Anna glared at him.

"Chuck keeps wussing out."

"Well you keep charging in! I'm not ready for this." Chuck fidgeted anxiously.

"Maybe you guys should try to... Meet in the middle." Garth offered calmly, slowly bringing his hands together with a smile. "It works better when you both agree on the same level."

"Except we don't." Anna frowned.

"Exactly, you don't agree so try to find a level where you do." Garth looked over at Balthazar for a moment, "It was pretty easy with him though I imagine that's probably because I already knew how to compromise." Balthazar only nodded at that, not denying in any way. Garth had this thing about him, a sort of 'glue' like thing that helped people stick together.

Anna looked at Chuck who glanced up nervously and she sighed, "Alright... We'll give a it try."

"Can we stay with you guys?" Chuck blurted out, "I think we might die."

"Yeah sure, the more the merrier, right?" Garth grinned and clapped his hands together. "Let's do this!"

Balthazar rolled his eyes at the level of energy in this one, "Welcome to the crazy train." He smiled at Anna who looked happy that Chuck had asked, her pride would probably have been in the way.

"Glad to be here." She said with a smile. "Seen anyone else? We sort of all... flew here in a big wave."

"Reminds of me of the old days." Balthazar chuckled bitterly, "But no, I didn't see anyone else. Garth was too gung-ho to wait and look for anyone. Pretty intense, the island's earthquake thing."

"We think it moved somehow, judging from the bit of wandering we've done it probably got bigger." She mused.

"Let's get going, it seems my monkey has got your monkey by the hand and is dragging him along." Balthazar laughed and followed the two strangely opposite humans, one practically skipping while the other attempted to not fall on his face.

 


	18. Chapter 18

"Damn it!" Castiel cursed as he slammed a third angel in a row back into the dirt. A group of teams had decided taking Dean and Castiel down would be much easier together and went after them, about five in total. Dean was strong but no match for five other people at once, plus extra angels who thought it'd be easy to take him down. Castiel stayed close to Dean, snatching him up and taking flight several times already to avoid different attacks. Dean was currently perched on his back between his wings, the safest place for him in this mess.

Dean clung nervously, never knowing when Castiel was going to fly again. He'd nearly lost his breakfast the first time, or at least that would have been the case if he'd eaten that morning. It was midday; still the first day and already they had a swarm of people and angels around them. Their bond was strong, their teamwork perfect and yet if Dean was knocked out then that was it, they were done. Castiel had his hands full protecting his fiancé that was for sure.

He'd taken several hits already though they almost felt like nothing, at least when his adrenaline was pumping that high and his heart pounding that loud. He leapt over the rising angels that had been knocked down and sent a blastwave, mostly just air, over the human opponents. The people skittered backward, some tumbled and somersaulted into a tree or two. It broke their concentration enough that Castiel managed a solid hit to two of the angels, a shock of energy forced into their systems and knocking them out.

He gasped and gulped in air, looking up at the other three, their arms raised for combat. "Ever wonder what happens when one of you beats us?" Castiel asked, stalling a little as he caught his breath, "Only the team that lands the final blow will actually be able to win the tournament." He watched them look at one another though mostly those angels were just listening to orders; the humans had to consider the idea as well. "So which one of you will it be?"

The angel on the right glanced over at the his brothers, a sort of tormented expression in his eyes as he wound up and blasted the center one down. "It'll be me!" The human partner cried out as he ordered his angel onward.

Dean held back a laugh as they watched the two teams duke it out, "Gonna let them do that?"

"No, of course not." Castiel let Dean down and bolted into the center of the fight he'd started, one hand placed on either angel's head and promptly knocking them down with the other unconscious ones. He wiped his forehead free of dirt and sweat and looked up at the shocked faces of their opponents, "Items, please."

The five humans looked at each other, particularly at the one who was willing to attack his comrades and grudgingly handed over their teams' artefacts. "Thank you." Dean smiled, his knees feeling a little quaky but otherwise doing fine.

The world champs turned and walked away, shaking off the post-battle shivers. "That was fun." Castiel muttered, earning a short laugh from Dean.

"Nice one, by the way. How'd you know they'd fall for that?"

"I didn't but it was worth a shot." Castiel shrugged and smirked at his partner. "So five more, how many do we have now?"

"Uh... including ours, about ten or so. Wow, not bad." Dean smiled, "See? We're just getting a look at the island and we've already got ten."

"That's not so impressive if you think about how many teams are out there. Plus we still need to wait twenty four hours before those same teams are gone. They could always recover and come after us again, not really looking forward to some of them." Castiel shuddered, remembering a fight earlier in the day where a cupid on steroids had charged him.

"Yeah..." Dean shared the memory and shook his head, "Not uh... not a big fan of that one either." He'd also gotten a taste of it, knocked flat on his butt with a rather uncomfortable individual on top of him. "You didn't have to knock him out  _on_  me, you know that right?"

"Yes but it was just too funny to see." Castiel smirked.

Dean shoved him and started walking, "Well regardless I'd say it's time we find a decent place to sleep or something."

"Probably not going to happen." Castiel sighed and looked up at a new threat coming down on them from above. They stood their ground as usual and faced the other team head on, no one came to this island to run and hide after all.

* * *

"Oh crap! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Garth sputtered out as he booked it down a fairly steep hill, chasing after Chuck who's been blown off the almost-cliff during the last fight. Garth lost control over his balance and tumbled the rest of the way down. The slope ended with a five foot drop which Garth promptly careened over, landing on the ground with a solid 'ooph'. He groaned and lifted his head a little, "Chuck?"

"Not coming out! I can't do this anymore." Chuck's panicky voice echoed out of a dug-out cave nearby.

Garth rolled over and started to stand up, "Come on, man. It ain't that bad." He grunted and trudged over to the hole, squatting down to peer inside. "What are you gonna tell all your fans back home if you quit now?"

"No one here has fans except for Dean and Bella's teams." Chuck frowned.

Anna and Balthazar landed next to Garth, both angels looked a little worse for wear but overall not bad. Only a few hours in this tournament and they were feeling the strain, though. That wasn't exactly a good thing. Obviously the four of them weren't the strongest of all the teams in the tournament but that didn't mean they weren't formidable. They'd just taken out three other teams, after all. Granted those other teams hadn't come at them all at once, it was a 'one by one' sort of deal but still, pretty impressive, right?

"Chuck," Anna sighed and knelt down, "Come here."

"No." Chuck shook his head, "We shouldn't even be here! In a tournament where people are trying to prove to Castiel and the Freedom Fighters that they don't support stupid things like these tournaments, the number of people present is ridiculous! I mean what are we proving? Nothing! We all jumped into this thing to support people like Dean and Castiel and their cause but in doing so we totally went against what they were saying to begin with!"

"Quit whining, Chuck." Anna spat and grabbed the man's arm, yanking him out of the hole. "It isn't about how many people are in the tournament it's about what we think of it. We're here to support them and maybe have a little fun. If you remember what I said a while back about these tournaments you wouldn't have such a hard time realizing why we're here."

Chuck sighed again and nodded, "I know what you said... But how is this a stress-relieving thing? I'm more stressed than ever!"

Anna shrugged, "I'm having fun with this."

Garth smiled, "That's the spirit! Come on, we can't keep stopping and giving ourselves pep talks every six hours."

"We could though I imagine it would get annoying." Balthazar smiled a little at the thought, considering doing it later.

Anna helped Chuck to his feet again, "I'm sorry I let you fall, okay?"

"You  _let_  me fall!" Chuck stared at her in disbelief, earning a very unimpressed glare from her.

"No! It's a figure of speech you stupid little-" she dropped him again and kept walking, "Ugh!"

Garth winced as he looked down at his scruffy friend who had returned to the dirt. He glanced at Balthazar who shrugged with a laugh. "We make a good team?" He offered uselessly.

* * *

"It's been eight hours, Michael. Eight! And we still don't have any kind of survival tactic set up, no shelter, just a bunch of retards' items." Bella furrowed her brow looking down at a pocket mirror, the reflection staring back at her was an image of how others viewed her, particularly the individual she thought about most.

Michael glanced down at the mirror then back at Bella's angry expression. "I think the point of this tournament is to get as many of those 'retards' items', isn't it?" He huffed a laugh and looked out over the rest of the island that they could see. They had settled down to rest on a rather large hill in the middle of a valley, mountains on all sides except for one that led into the forest terrain. It was beautiful, Michael would never deny that. "You're too spoiled for this kind of set up, I think."

"Shut up." She grumbled and started walking down the hill. "Come on, let's find some more retards to take items from."

He stood and followed, "As you wish, m'lady." He smirked to himself though he knew she was far from impressed.

* * *

"Can't say I'm impressed." Annie pocketed a golden chain from the last team they'd trounced, Raphael following her closely. "A lot of these people are really new at this whole thing, why would they be allowed into a world tournament?"

"They needed a lot of people to make it more interesting, make it last longer." Raphael answered stoically, he was good at that.

"Sounds like that's the reason for a lot of teams being here." An unfamiliar voice, at least for Annie, swept over them.

She looked up toward the voice defensively and froze, her gaze falling on Lucifer and Sam at the forefront, Gabriel slightly off to the side. "Oh crap..." she muttered. The trio was perched on the higher ground after just emerging from the trees onto the forest's pathway, a narrow road dug into and through a hill. Originally she and Raphael considered it to be a better travel route; at least it limited the number of angles other teams could take on them. However it didn't matter if the team sneaking up on them was made up of those three.

Sam looked them over, "That's Raphael, right? An archangel?"

"That's right." Gabriel answered first before calling to his brother. "Raphael, long time no see."

Raphael frowned at Gabriel, "Don't address me so casually, Gabriel, one who would allow something so harmful to happen to his partner. And you, Lucifer," Raphael's wings lifted angrily, "You're no better than they are."

Lucifer's friendly expression died fairly quickly at that, the ground shaking uncomfortably beneath all of their feet. "You want to say that again?"

"Doing that to Sam Winchester makes you no better than the rest of the humans." Raphael said again, squaring his shoulders and showing absolutely no fear though he could feel his fingertips tingle with the awful feeling.

Sam furrowed his brow, "Do what to me?"

"Nothing, he's trying to rile us up." Lucifer muttered before stepping down onto the pathway, his feet shifting in the soft soil.

Sam glanced at Gabriel who had turned his head away shamefully. "I don't know what to tell you, Sam." Gabriel said quietly.

Sam shook his head, "Whatever, you guys are talking later." He grumbled angrily before hopping down after Lucifer. "Hand over your items and we can end this peacefully." He started by saying this, like he had been attempting to start every fight. Just because he'd lost control before didn't mean he had to do it again and again, he didn't have to hurt anyone to win this thing if they'd just listen to him. Of course, when does anyone ever make it easy on him?

Annie swallowed and glanced at Raphael who clearly had no intention of ending this by surrendering. "Sorry Sam, can't do that." She smiled, "Though it is nice to meet you in person."

Sam returned her smile with his own, though his had a less lightened appeal to it. "I'm sorry; I don't know your name."

"Annie." She spoke as Raphael's grace flared up, ready for another battle.

"Nice to meet you, Annie." Sam felt the ground quake again when he and Lucifer reconnected their bond, power surged through him and his senses sharpened. He inhaled slowly and waited, the air around them growing tense in the passing time.

Raphael made the first move; he leapt forward while creating a blade made of light mixed with his grace. His attack was blocked with one arm from Lucifer, the two archangels staring at one another in the split second that had transpired between them. A smile spread over Lucifer's face and time felt like it had slowed down. Raphael had never felt so powerless in his entire existence, not even when facing the other archangels in the past. Lucifer's strength far outweighed his own, almost like when Castiel had beaten him though it was far more focused.

That split second was all that Sam and Lucifer had needed to end the fight, the ground erupted as if it'd just been hit by a missile, easily destroyed by the force of Lucifer's attack. Everyone on the island was aware of the strength just displayed, the entire island shook and the structure even seemed to groan.

Sam disconnected their bond immediately after, waiting for the dust to clear. His sad smile hadn't left his face, even when he saw the unconscious or dead forms of his opponents. The bond between him and Lucifer was strong, still too strong for him to control, and yet he wondered if that was the case at all. It wasn't about one person controlling the other; it was about them working as a team. They did that fairly well, so was it just Lucifer attacking so forcefully? Sam really wished he understood how the inter-workings of the connection and bond functioned. From what he remembered with his bond with Gabriel over the last couple years it was a shared thing but Gabriel still controlled how strong his attacks were and overall what he did.

"Overkill, Lucifer." Sam said sternly, "You don't need to hit them so hard."

"It's Raphael; he needs to be hit that hard." Lucifer shrugged with a smile, apparently having worked off the anger he'd been boiling in moments before.

"No, he really doesn't. Dean and Cas beat him without working out their connection all the way and we already have, why would you need to hit him with everything you've got? Just because you're pissed with him? If you hadn't protected me with your grace I probably would've died in that blast wave just now!"

Lucifer didn't seem to care and started walking in another direction, "Better get those items."

"LUCIFER!" Sam shouted, the strength in his voice surprised Gabriel to no end. How could Sam just take that tone with the devil? Granted Sam always did have more courage than Gabriel thought healthy for someone so small (though Sam had gotten a lot taller since then).

Lucifer turned around and looked at his human carefully, also apparently surprised with Sam's anger. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry." Lucifer lifted his hands in surrender, "He pissed me off and I went a little over-kill with that one."

"A little?" Sam looked down at Raphael who didn't appear to be breathing, "You killed your brother! We're trying to save the angels, remember? What are you thinking?"

"I can't really say..." Lucifer looked away and sighed, "I'm just... So mad at all of this. The humans, what they did to my family, physically and mentally... Raphael isn't himself."

"He was himself." Gabriel dared to say though he stepped back when Lucifer glared at him.

Sam looked between them and shook his head, "Okay, so what exactly did he say that bothers you? He wasn't just trying to rile us up, he was telling the truth. What did you do to me?"

Lucifer vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Sam, a hand waving over the young man's head. Sam stumbled forward, an attempt to get away from the archangel's grasp but everything wavered around him and soon darkness swarmed over his vision. His eyes rolled back and he slumped back into Lucifer's arms, his body limp and unresponsive.

"Lucifer!" Gabriel snapped worried, "You can't mess with his head like that, you could really hurt him-"

"You think I care? He's a human, once we're done with him I'll remove him too." Lucifer slung Sam over his shoulder and moved to find a space to hide, "Come on, get their items and get a move on. We're sitting ducks right now."

"Whose fault is that? You can't wipe his brain every time he notices or realizes something you don't like." Gabriel muttered though hardly loud enough for Lucifer to hear him. Lucifer didn't need Sam to kill Gabriel, that was something the devil could do all on his own and Gabriel didn't want to risk it.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I often listen to a song or two while I write certain chapters or stories and this one I decided to quote it, hope no one is offended. I don't own the lyrics

The first night had fallen and Michael and Bella still found themselves walking. That tremor hours earlier didn't sit well with them though neither of them were in a particular hurry to meet what was at the end of it. They knew who it was that caused it; they didn't really want to know who had received such a punishing end. Michael didn't fool himself in pretending it was some insignificant team. There'd be no point in causing such a tremendous shockwave against a meagre opponent; it had to be someone of importance. Michael wondered if it had been Dean and Castiel briefly but he didn't bother considering the thought too long.

Bella frowned as they walked through the forest, her gaze following a pathway that seemed to be more like a small ravine cutting through the trees. At one point the path seemed utterly ruined, both of them knew it had to have been the attack from earlier. She moved to avoid it but Michael couldn't ignore the feeling rushing through him.

He leapt through the debris and flew up over it to scan the area. His eyes widened when he spotted the two bodies moved together, their hands clasped together loosely. "Raphael!" he called, hurrying over to them and kneeling next to his brother. Michael held his breath, not liking how still they were lying. He bit back tears and lowered his ear to Raphael's chest, waiting for a heartbeat.

* * *

Sam opened his eyes and ran a hand up through his hair. What happened? The last thing he remembered was walking through the forest; Lucifer had mentioned that he heard someone nearby... "Oh god..." Sam sat up and rubbed his face, "Did we..." He looked up at Gabriel, who he knew would always be right next to him when he woke again.

"No, we didn't lose any fights." Gabriel smiled, "Don't worry."

"No, I don't care about that. Did I hurt anyone?" Sam's brow furrowed forward, concern deeply rooted in his gaze. "The last time my mind got this foggy I'd hurt people, I lost control... Though those times I remembered some of it... Gabriel please, what happened?"

Gabriel sat quietly watching Sam's expression. It hurt to see him like this, to see that sweet boy stare at him like this and have to beg for an answer that Gabriel would never have had to give. "Don't do that to yourself, Sam. The answers to your questions won't bring back the people who died and it won't undo what happened so don't ask them."

"So I did." Sam shook his head. He bit his bottom lip and turned away, his head hung and tears stinging his eyes. "What's wrong with me?"

"It's not you, it's Lucifer." Gabriel said quietly.

"Where is he, anyway?" Sam asked without looking up.

"A low-level team showed up, he's taking care of them." Gabriel sighed, "Probably going to kill them too."

"And you're just letting him!" Sam blurted out, stumbling to his feet and heading for the exit.

"Well it's not like you've been stopping him, have you?" Gabriel snapped back. "You let him walk all over you, hands all over you, and whatever else! Why don't you stop him? Say no once in a while!"

Sam didn't answer as he climbed out of the cave he'd been hidden in, what could he say? He didn't know why he was letting Lucifer do those things or why he couldn't say no. Sam couldn't even control himself; he hurt others because he wasn't strong enough. He was aware of what Lucifer was doing half the time but he couldn't ever bring himself to stop the archangel, he couldn't slap Lucifer's hands away each time they lingered on him and it burned him to know that. Gabriel had every right to yell at him, to think him a horrible person for all of this, who wouldn't? He was basically cheating on Gabriel right in front of him, letting Lucifer do whatever he wanted...

"Sam, are you alright?" Lucifer was returning to the cave, watching Sam stumble out.

"Lucifer, where's the other team?" Sam glared up at him.

"Running off in that direction," Lucifer pointed south, "Something about 'we'll get you next time' or whatever. I got their items though so we're still good." He smiled widely and handed a golden pen over to Sam.

"They're not hurt?" Sam stuffed the thing into his pocket.

"Well I had to win somehow; they're beaten up pretty good but nothing fatal." Lucifer shrugged, "What, you don't trust me? I wouldn't go overboard like that on my own, come on."

Sam nodded hesitantly, from what Lucifer had told him earlier those people had only been hurt because Sam had lost control over Lucifer's power and he'd ordered such a massive strike. This time, since Lucifer was on his own, he probably knew how to hold back properly. "Right, sorry. I guess I just feel a little... strange lately."

"No worries." Lucifer smiled, "How about we rest for the night in there? You look exhausted."

"Yeah..." Sam nodded again and headed back for the cave where Gabriel was standing right outside the entrance.

Gabriel bit his lip but swallowed his fears this time. "Come on Sam!" he yelled, "Don't fall for that stupid trick! You're smarter than this, I know you are! Lucifer's lying to you!"

"Stop it, Gabriel!" Sam snapped back, "Please just stop it. I know whose fault it is, okay?"

Gabriel shifted backward, he couldn't take this anymore. His wings spread and in seconds he took to the air, leaving Sam standing alone with Lucifer.

"Gabriel!" Sam called after him, "Gabriel where are you going?" His heart sudden felt heavy and he realized that this whole time he couldn't really feel his angel, everything had slowly gone numb between them. Tears were quick to streak his face as he watched the empty sky, "Gabriel..."

"Well that wasn't very team-like of him." Lucifer frowned, "It's okay, Sam. We'll do it together."

Sam didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the shimmering starlight above him, wondering where his angel was going.

* * *

Dean yawned and laid back, his arms crossed under his head as he stared up at the stars. They hadn't left the plains terrain though they did manage to gain over twenty-five items in the process of attempting to get somewhere else. Castiel sat at his side though his twitchy, anxious behaviour wasn't helping Dean relax any. "Did you want to... I dunno, do something?" Dean looked up at his angel curiously.

"Like what? We're in the middle of something rather important, don't you think? If someone shows up while we sleep and kills you or something then what would I do? No, no doing anything. I'm going to stay up and stand guard."

Dean wanted to argue but Castiel was right, it was better for the being that didn't need to sleep to stay awake and watch for night-time attacks. "Just... don't wear yourself out, okay? Cas?"

Castiel remained silent for a moment.

"Cas?"

"Alright." Castiel finally said, "I'll try not to." He ran a hand down his face, "I just don't like sleeping or tournaments..."

Dean was about to ask 'don't like sleeping? Since when?' but he knew better than to actually ask. "I'm sorry, Cas." He sighed, "I wish there was something I could do for you."

"I know." Castiel nodded and touched Dean's forehead, running his hand up through the soft brown hair of his lover, "But we don't have time to figure anything out about it right now. Just get some sleep while you still can, okay? I'll have to wake you if someone does attack us."

Dean closed his eyes cooperatively though he couldn't help but feel rotten about it, his fiancé was suffering from those goddamn nightmares and he couldn't fix it.  _'I'm going in there first chance I get.'_  He thought decidedly and let himself relax, enjoying the touch of Castiel's hand on him.

Castiel smiled down at Dean as he watched rise and fall of the man's chest grow shallower and Dean was asleep. The angel looked up at the sky, how clear it was and how fresh the air smelled. He thought he'd miss it, considering he and Dean spent most of their time in cities and whatever else. But surprisingly he really didn't like it. It reminded him of when he was on his own those years after all the angel capturing had started. He ignored the wash of loneliness that came with the memories, he was no longer alone, he had Dean and Dean would never leave him. He'd never be lonely again so there was no point in dwelling on old thoughts.

The world around them seemed to float by; he watched the clouds overhead and listened to the faraway trees rustle and something in him just  _craved_  cheeseburgers. He smiled and laughed softly to himself, where was John Winchester when you needed him? Probably at home asleep, waiting for the next day's recap of the first day of the tournament.

Something shifted differently; Castiel could hear it in the air current. He looked up to see several white wings descend, an archangel. He stood but didn't move to wake Dean; he recognized who the wings belonged to. "Gabriel, what are you doing here? Where's Sam and Lucifer?"

Gabriel looked up with reddened eyes and shook his head, "I can't... I can't deal with it anymore, Castiel. Sam's gone, Lucifer's got him all wrapped up around his finger and-"

"If you're here to tell me that you're giving up on Sam then you can stop right now." Castiel snarled and walked up to Gabriel until they were uncomfortably close for the archangel. "I saw you in that video; I know what it is you feel for Sam. So why are you just sitting back and letting it happen?"

"It's Lucifer! What the hell can I do against that?" Gabriel motioned frantically, "He'll kill me!"

"And you're willing to live alone? You're willing to give up the greatest love you could know just so you can avoid getting hurt? Doesn't this hurt, right now? Being away from Sam, knowing he's in pain, he's suffering because you  _let_  him suffer." Castiel growled out, every word he spoke came out with a sharpened edge.

"I can't tell Sam what to do, he wanted to free Lucifer so-"

"Sam would never free the devil, Gabriel. As much as he loves angels and is on our side he'd never rightly go and loose Satan, not without good reason and not in his right mind. You  _know_ Sam, you've been around him more often than I've ever had the chance to and I can see when he isn't being himself. What is wrong with you?" Castiel blasted Gabriel backward and leapt forward, pinning his brother to the ground with more force than Gabriel was aware Castiel had the strength to accomplish. "Sam is yours! Break into your connection if you have to, force your way in and destroy his bond with Lucifer! Do everything you can to save him because he is the only one who will love you in all the ways that he does. Do you understand me!"

Gabriel stared up into the fiercest blue eyes he'd ever seen and found some truth behind them. Castiel was right; he loved Sam more than anything. He was scared for his own life, scared Lucifer would hurt or kill him but what was the point in that? He was already in so much pain just watching what Lucifer was doing to Sam. He frowned and nodded with a determination he wasn't aware he had. "Thank you, Castiel." He reached up and pat the other angel's shoulder, "I needed to hear that."

Castiel nodded, "Good luck, Gabriel. I hope you come up with a good plan."He stood up again, helping his brother to do the same. "I'd suggest finding a way to do it while Lucifer is unaware of you."

"No worries, I'll figure something." Gabriel dusted himself off, "It may take me a bit though... Lucifer's not exactly easy to sneak up on."

Castiel smiled, "I'm glad you've smartened up, that was easier than I thought it'd be."

"What? You thought I'd stick to the same tune even after you talked to me?" Gabriel smirked.

"Kind of, yeah. I'm not used to people listening to me on the first go around." Castiel chuckled and looked over at Dean who had sat up by now, staring at them sleepily.

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't be." Gabriel shrugged.

"You're one of the only people I could think of, really, who could save Sam." Castiel looked back at his brother, "If you'd give up then I'd have to figure something else out and I'd definitely die in the process, or at least ruin something that isn't meant to be touched."

"Well you might be able to help, actually..." Gabriel crossed his arms, "I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been thinking the best way to distract him is when he's fighting, right?" He looked up at Castiel who didn't even have to consider it.

"Dean and I were already planning to fight them, it'll be difficult though... And I don't imagine you'll have a much simpler time of it when they're actually connected." Castiel raised an eyebrow at him, "You sure you want to try it then? It would probably be simpler to do it after we beat them."

"That's assuming you do. You guys are aware of their bond-level, right?"

"Yes," Castiel nodded, glancing down at the ground, "But we're pretty foolish, we think we can win."

"Well I'll do it my way and you do it yours, let's see if it works out." Gabriel smiled and took off, "Later, Cas!"

"Castiel!" The angel shouted after him though Gabriel was long gone. "Douche."

Dean laughed lightly, "Sounds like things aren't going too badly."

"Just go to sleep, Dean." Castiel smirked and went back to his side, "Tomorrow's day two, people will have more items and probably feel the need to take us on in more frequency than today."

"Yep." Dean shifted and rested his head in Castiel's lap when his angel finally sat down again. "People are gonna feel amped up and ready to take us on, which will be funny when they fail."

Castiel rolled his eyes but remained quiet for a moment. Dean furrowed his brow and glanced up at Castiel, "Hey, can you do me a favour?"

His angel peered down at him again, "What?"

"Think you could sing something for me? This silence is killing me."

Castiel smirked, "You want a lullaby?"

"Or whatever you feel like singing is good too." Dean smiled, "Something you heard on the radio, or TV. Softer, preferably."

"And you won't complain if it isn't exactly like your favourite music?"

"Nah, if you're singing it I'm sure I won't mind." Dean closed his eyes again and exhaled slowly, getting comfy.

Castiel brushed his fingers through Dean's hair again, starting to hum a tune he'd grown fond of. The radio had titled it 'Holding on and Letting go' by Ross Copperman, Castiel did his best to mimic it and being an angel it wasn't that hard.

"Is anybody out there?  
Is anybody listening?  
Does anybody really know,  
If it's the end or the beginning?

The quiet rush from one breath,  
Is all we're waiting for  
Sometimes the one we're taking,  
Changes everyone before

It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't  
It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed  
Some prayers find the answer, some prayers never know  
We're holding on, and letting go.

Sometimes we're holding angels,  
And we never even know  
Don't know if we'll make it,  
But we know, we just can't let it show

It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't  
It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed  
Some prayers find an answer, some prayers never know  
We're holding on and letting go"

Dean smiled softly as he drifted away into sleep again, glad he gathered the courage to ask Castiel to do that for him.

The rest of the night drifted by quietly, most people attempting to enjoy their rest though that didn't mean other teams weren't taken down during the night, just that Dean and Castiel managed to spend the rest of the night alone.

* * *

Sam looked up when he heard a familiar flutter of wings and saw Gabriel's silhouette as the archangel returned to him. "Gabriel," he whispered, sitting up just in time to be greeted by a hug, Gabriel's face buried against his neck. Sam lifted his arms and hugged his angel back, letting a few tears slip past his guard. "Don't leave..."

"I just needed some air, sorry I scared you." Gabriel whispered softly. "Go to sleep, Sammy."

Sam nodded and curled up again, rest coming to him easier now. Gabriel looked up at Lucifer's glaring eyes and stuck his tongue out.


	20. Chapter 20

"Holy crap..." John muttered as he sat on the edge of his sofa, beer discarded on the coffee table. He was watching the re-cap of that week's battles. He figured that he'd just tune in whenever since Dean was pretty dominating in the field but he never would have been able to predict what he'd see. The main focus was on the tournament's newest face, Sam Winchester. "Mary! Have you seen this! Have I not watched TV in over a week or something!"

Mary walked over and nearly dropped the cup she was drying, "Sammy..." She plopped herself next to John, watching the destructive force that followed Sam's movements. Gabriel and Lucifer on either side of him doing everything he asked them to do. He'd paused at one point to look at a camera during the week and the media picked up on it quickly, zooming in on his clear hazel eyes.

" _Sam Winchester is dominating this year, he and his team of two archangels, Gabriel and Lucifer, have wiped the floor with every team they've come up against and walked away one or more items richer."_  The news anchor began to explain though John and Mary were stuck on the names of Sam's angels.

"Lucifer?" Mary gasped, "Sam's working with the devil!"

John nodded slowly, "My boy's got two archangels on his side..." Sam apparently meant business with this whole angel thing. "I can't believe it. Both of our boys are in the same tournament, you think they'll fight?"

"John!" Mary scolded and hit him with the cup, "I sincerely hope not! Castiel wouldn't stand a chance."

"I dunno, I think Dean would win." John picked his beer up again, watching the images flash by on the screen, "He's got more experience and Sam's too soft."

"Sam's got Lucifer and Gabriel, it doesn't matter what kind of experience Dean has." Mary furrowed her brow and looked back at the screen just in time to see a pretty epic shot of Dean and Castiel standing side by side, both staring forward with some intensity though she had no idea what they'd be looking at. "I just hope it doesn't happen."

"It'll happen." John shrugged, "Twenty bucks says Dean wins."

"We are not betting on our sons!" Mary frowned at him.

"Well we can't do anything else."

She sighed and fidgeted with the cup in her hands for a moment. "Fine, I think Sam will win."

"Alright, bet's on."

* * *

"I'd say things are going pretty well." Crowley muttered, mostly to himself though the boardroom of people sitting with him probably heard it as well.

"How exactly are they going well?" The Crystal Wings' executive furrowed his brow angrily, "People are still rooting for the Freedom Fighters and Castiel, our economy is pretty much in a shit hole and we've given you all the equipment you asked for. Where are the results, Crowley? Everything Sam Winchester does is still impacting on the public with Castiel's influence, that little angel is still throwing monkey wrenches into everything!"

"Calm down." Crowley smiled, "It's under control, we just need to wait until the situation diffuses a little bit. The tournament's ending will be one to remember and reminder to all people why angels are so dangerous. Lucifer's presence is as much a hindrance as it is a blessing, the case can be pushed in either direction, it all depends on who controls the media. Lucifer's team is going for the 'big push', a show of strength and power as a reminder of what angels are supposed to be. I'm going to twist it a little, people will be reminded but fear can be a deadly thing."

"We can't wait for you to finish screwing around with the media, we need something now."

Crowley nodded, "And you'll have to wait until the tournament's over. It's not long now, don't worry."

* * *

One week in, the end of the first week marked the halfway point, or at least it was the day that they announced half of the competition had been taken out. The remaining teams were being broadcast all over the island, possibly over several speaker systems though no one particularly cared at this point.

Castiel listened quietly to the names and made a mental note of the teams that were said to have a higher number of items than most. He smiled to himself and glanced at Dean who looked like hell, torn pants, dark circles under his eyes and overall looking fairly tired. "It sounds like we have the most items."

Dean huffed a laugh and dropped his head against the tree he was leaning on, "Wonderful. That means that we're even bigger a target than the rest of the week. Are they trying to kill me?"

"Kind of, yeah." Castiel laughed, "But think of it this way, we've probably taken out a good chunk of those teams so we're doing pretty good."

"Except we haven't seen teams like Michael and Bella, or Raphael and Annie, or Balthazar, or Anna and Chuck. I mean where are they? Have you heard their names yet?" Dean furrowed his brow, "Those are some pretty big names, you know. Fighting them won't be easy and beating them will probably feel pretty heavy on the psyche."

"Well we've beaten most of them before," Castiel shrugged, "But so far I've heard Michael and Bella have around 50 items or so, Balthazar and Garth are carrying close to 20, and Anna and Chuck actually have about 10. I haven't heard about Raphael's team yet, or Sam's..."

Just as Castiel muttered the name they heard it echoed over the system,  _"And Sam Winchester with his angels Gabriel and Lucifer are in the lead with over 400 items in hand. Our world champions had better look out; they're one defeat away from losing this entire tournament."_

"Are you kidding me!" Dean stared up at the sky as if it'd answer him. "What did they do, go after every team with a higher number of items or something?"

"Probably, that's not a bad plan really." Castiel shook his head, "Everyone playing right now will have at least two items, though many of the teams that are left are actually without any items at all by the sound of it. After their twenty-four hour mark is up we'll be down to a much smaller number of teams." He paced around a bit, staring down at the grass and consequently his feet as well. He was dirty, scuff marks all along his skin and in fact most of his clothing had been torn as well. No one was really permitted to take extra things with them, this wasn't only about fighting it was about surviving. That wasn't a huge deal however; there were angels present after all.

"What's up?" Dean asked curiously, watching Castiel's little facial twitches.

"Nothing much," the angel muttered, waving a hand over himself and in an instant felt cleaner. "Cleaner than ever and yet I still want a shower." He huffed.

Dean smirked, "Me next."

Castiel flicked his wrist in Dean's direction and he felt rejuvenated in seconds, clean and ready to go. "Clothes too?"

"Obviously." Dean laughed as he looked at himself; this was no substitute for sleep, though. He was still pretty tired but at least he felt less miserable while rolling in his own filth over and over again.

Castiel nodded and did so; both of their garments were as good as new. "This is cheating, you know." He smiled, "I think the idea was for us to end up naked by the end of this."

"We'll strip for them if that's the case." Dean sneered playfully. "Think I can get a nap before the next attack?"

The ground rumbled beneath their feet like it had the first day, Castiel didn't want to risk something happening and scooped Dean up, tossing his fiancé onto his back and taking flight. Dean was a little more relaxed with the feeling by now, doing this for a week straight definitely helped. "I doubt a nap is a good idea at this point..." Castiel muttered, floating up over the island to see it better.

It crunched back down to the size it was originally, the mountains disappearing and the valley they surrounded vanished with them. Castiel mentally kicked himself for not inspecting it closer; he wanted to compare the synthetic nature with the reality that his Father had made. He looked up at the other teams that had taken flight and once again mentally kicked himself as he watched several of them hurdle in his direction.

"It's about to get rough, Dean."

"THIS HIGH UP!" Dean nearly shrieked, suddenly very aware of their altitude. "Go back down! Go back down!"

"Not a good idea, sweetheart." Castiel's wings flared up and he bolted forward to meet the on-coming horde. He noted it looked like more of a flock than a horde, and yet at the same time these angels were not on one another's side either so flock wasn't the right word. Regardless there were too many to count at that moment.

"Oh crap! Oh crap!" Dean's fingers dug into Casitel's clothes and pinched his skin as they barrel-rolled right into the masses. Castiel let out an unsightly shriek, his angelic voice echoing through the crowd and it almost sounded like it bounced off of every wing present. "Cas!" Dean cried out in concern though he could hardly hear anything if Castiel had responded.

Castiel snarled but didn't stop moving, taking down several teams as he careened through the air, bashing into others and destroying any formation that may have been established. None of the teams were working together, either. It was a giant cluster-fuck of bodies, limbs and wings. Castiel would be worried Dean had fallen off but he could still feel the solid grip on him and every time he moved his wings they brushed up against Dean's sides. He decidedly focused on the fight instead of the wounds he'd sustained just bursting into the flurry; his wings had been upright so he'd successfully protected Dean in the process though he'd taken nearly every hit aimed at him.

Castiel and Dean had been involved in several messy fights like this already; rarely did they end up with a one on one battle like they were used to. Granted their situation was slowly becoming normal and they couldn't help but grow accustomed to it.

But this fight was too much for them to handle on their own; they were the main target though the other teams weren't against bashing one another as well. The thing about fights between angels was that they usually didn't last that long, something most people already knew. Not unless the teams were evenly matched, then the fight could go on forever. However in this mess it was hard to tell who had the upper hand and it was all too easy to bash the humans off their angels, something that would undoubtedly knock the weaker of partners out entirely.

Five minutes into it and Castiel was already breathing heavily, he was well aware of Dean's grip and how much weaker it had gotten. He wanted to go to the ground to make this less dangerous for Dean, even a little, but he couldn't risk being blasted in the back. He continued to deflect any attacks he could but every time he seemed to avoid one hit he was struck with at least six others. Even for their perfect bond this was overwhelming, too many people attacking him at once without enough rest between fights. Dean's concentration was definitely limited enough with the exhaustion he was feeling but the worst was how scared he was in the air. If Dean could focus now like he had when they fought in the arenas then this would be done within the last few minutes. Of course that wasn't exactly the case in that exact moment so clearly Castiel couldn't rely on it.

One angel managed a solid hit to Castiel's gut and in seconds he found himself hurdling to the ground, his eyes wide from the shock and his limbs apparently frozen. "CAS!" Dean screamed, his fingers digging in again and his voice crashing through Castiel's ears. "We're FALLING! CAS!" Obviously Dean didn't know which part to worry about more, his limp angel or the fact that he was falling to his death.

Castiel's wings flinched and suddenly curled and folded over his back and Dean, he angled himself and sailed toward the earth below, "Hold on Dean!" He called briskly as they accelerated, a wave of angels following him down.

Dean dared to glance back and felt his stomach tighten, their opponents nearly created a funnel that headed straight toward them. He was so busy staring back at the flock behind them he hadn't noticed what had been approaching from the front, at least not until several projectiles launched past Castiel. Dean's eyes snapped forward again and for a moment he was worried, really genuinely worried because Michael and Bella couldn't have had worse timing if they wanted to attack them. However he realized pretty quickly that none of their attacks were aimed for Castiel as the angel swooped past them.

"Having issues, Cas?" Michael called over his shoulder with a bit of a laugh.

Castiel's wings spread again and he adjusted himself to slow down and looked back up, "Just a few." He replied.

"Holy crap..." Dean muttered, staring up at what looked like an army raining down on them.

"Dean, I need you to focus, okay?" Castiel said calmly, "You're scared I know, but the more afraid you are the harder this fight becomes. Have faith in me."

Dean swallowed, his limbs tightening and he nodded, "I'm sorry Cas, I should probably trust you more than this."

"Yes, you should." Castiel glanced over his shoulder with a sharp gaze, Dean nearly lost himself in that flash of vibrant blue before Castiel looked back toward the sky above. "So do it."

Dean smiled, "Right, you got it."

A wave of vibrations pulsed between them several times as Dean found his center and they could almost feel a definite click. "That's better." They spoke in unison, both staring at the same target. One motion of Castiel's wings was enough to send them back at their opponents with more speed and force than they'd used to fly away.

Michael smirked, having been handling several angels on his own already. "Took them long enough."

"Have they been holding back on that stupid bond thing?" Bella frowned.

"Looks that way. Think they've been getting bored with the tournaments? Maybe it's a way to make it more interesting, not going full-bore and all that." Michael rolled his eyes and knocked another team out of the sky, "Arrogant dicks."

Bella laughed and concentrated on their own fight, despite how distracted she was with the way Castiel and Dean were knocking teams down left and right. "If this swarm knows what's good for it they'll stop attacking." She muttered.

"When does a swarm ever know what's good for it?" Michael smirked.

Castiel escaped from the fight again and dove after the falling teams; the ones he knew were unconscious. He reached out and started catching them, rescuing the humans from certain death.

"What are you doing?" One woman asked as she desperately clung to him. "We were just trying to-"

"It doesn't matter if your life is in danger." Castiel looked at her sternly, "This tournament isn't about killing one another, it's a game, a sport and people need to stop taking it so fucking seriously." She shut up after that.

Landing was difficult but Castiel managed it without too much injury to anyone with him. He looked at them briefly before looking back up at the fight that was descending as well. "Looks like we'll be levelling the area." He muttered.

"Guess so." Dean stayed on Castiel's back despite being on the ground again, he knew that it wouldn't be safe on his own in a group fight; it was one of the only constant things during this tournament. It didn't take long for Michael to land next to them, Bella adjusting her position on his back for better grip.

"How's your week been?" Castiel smiled at Michael who just rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.

"Pretty epic, yours?"

"Same."

"You can talk later," Bella scolded, "We need to finish this fight so we can tell you something."

"Can't tell us now?" Dean raised an eyebrow; he and Castiel deflected another assault with the flap of a wing.

"Not appropriate timing." Bella answered as Michael narrowly dodged something that may have hurt, though he wasn't quite sure since he and Bella were pretty strong and the power levels of their current opponents weren't terribly high.

The two teams worked together, watching one another's backs and fighting their way out of what felt like an army's march. It was over in about two hours; Castiel looked around at all the unconscious angels and humans and shook his head. He pressed his palm against his eyes to stop from crying; he was past crying over this kind of thing, wasn't he? But he'd never been surrounded by their bodies like this, in piles all around him.

"Wow..." Michael ran a hand up through his hair, "That was messy." He looked at Castiel and moved to comfort his little brother, letting Bella down as he walked. Dean had slipped down from Castiel's back as well and took a moment to survey the area.

Castiel looked up at Michael and stifled a hiccupped sob; he moved into his big brother's arms and buried his face into the strong chest waiting for him. Michael wrapped Castiel up in a hug and held him tight, "It's okay, Castiel." He whispered, "They understand, you know that already."

Castiel nodded, "I just... I can't... I can't help it." He stuttered brokenly, gasping for air in between words.

Dean watched from the side feeling heartbroken for his angel, he wished there was something he could do. Though as he thought about it the more he realized that pretty soon he'd be fighting his own brother as well, he'd have to beat Sam into the ground in the cruelest of ways while people watched on TV. He had to wonder how he'd handle the feeling when it came up, would he be okay with it and just let it roll off? Or would he get mad and feel the anguish that Castiel felt every time they fought? He shook his head and decided to not think about it.

"So," Bella walked over to Dean, her arms folded over her chest as per usual. "We had some news for you."

"What's up?" Dean looked at her, "You decided you want to save us for last and fight for the title all over again?"

"Not even close." Bella smirked, "You really shouldn't think, sweetie, it's not good for you."

Dean frowned but decided not to reply to that comment in particular, "So then what?"

"Earlier this week, on the cruise in, a few of us had made the choice to back you up." She looked around, "Not sure how many teams are left though, looks like we took out a good chunk of them."

Dean nodded then had to pause and rewind what he'd just heard, "Wait, what? You guys are going to back us up? You're not trying to win?"

"It's not about winning or losing a tournament anymore, Dean. The world's past the point of being entertained by angels, it's time we fought for them. They need our help and you and Castiel are our best bet at this point. Michael and I will protect you until you two are the last team standing." Bella's expression betrayed nothing of her emotions as she spoke, she'd grown out of the vanity and fame of being world champion for several years in a row and had started to see Michael as her friend, her protector and Dean would venture to guess lover as well.

"Thank you." He replied with as much strength as she had shown him, "Who else plans to help?"

"Balthazar and Garth, Anna and Chuck, and Raphael and Annie." Bella answered briefly though her downcast expression didn't make Dean feel very comfortable.

"What? What happened?" Dean asked worriedly.

"Well one of those three teams isn't exactly capable of fighting right now." Bella shifted oddly. "Raphael and Annie went up against Sam and Lucifer on the first day."

"And?" Dean pushed urgently. "What happened? Are they okay?"

Her silence wrenched his stomach further, though Castiel walking up beside him and taking his hand eased the pain a little. "Are they dead?" Castiel asked softly, fearing the answer.

"No." Michael shook his head, taking his place beside Bella. "But they were damn close. We've spent most of the week taking care of them, it's why we don't have as many items as we'd like." He glanced at the people unconscious around them, "Though I suppose maybe this will make up for it."

"So where are they now?" Castiel looked around as if they might pop up somewhere.

"They've gone to gather the others; obviously Balthazar and Anna aren't out of the game yet since their names were called this morning." Michael smiled.

"I guess I missed Raphael's name when they were calling them..." Castiel scratched his head curiously.

"The tournament people probably didn't know whether or not he was alive so I'm not surprised." Bella shrugged, "Regardless, they should be on their way soon."

"Thanks for all of this." Dean smiled with relief, "We were starting to have a pretty rough time with everything."

"I believe it; you look like you haven't slept in a while." Bella laughed.

"Not much, nope." Dean sighed.

Castiel smiled guiltily, feeling a little bad that Dean was so tired. His thoughts of burden were cut short when he was glomped from behind. "Gah!" he flailed a little to get the individual off.

"Not letting go!" Balthazar laughed as he half-strangled Castiel to get a better chance of noogy-ing the poor bastard.

"You annoying son of a-" Castiel managed a decent grip Balthazar's arms and flipped him over his head. Of course Balthazar hadn't let go so they both tumbled to the dirt, scrapping like best friends do.

Dean smiled and looked up just in time to get a hug from Anna, "Hey, how are you?"

Anna smiled and stepped back again, "Not too bad, we're still in this."

Chuck nodded determinedly though he was still clearly unhappy with the situation.

"Wow, look at you guys." Garth looked around at all the bodies, "Did you uh... are they..."

"They're alive, Garth." Bela shook her head, "Just unconscious."

"Cool, cool..." Garth nodded, "So I'll just gather the items for you guys then." He smiled that dorky way he did and moved to handle the job.

Raphael and Annie smiled at Michael and Bella for a moment then turned those grins on Dean and Castiel, "You guys sure are something else." Annie said sarcastically.

"And look at you two, nearly dead on the first day." Dean retorted with a laugh. "Good job."

"What can I say? Your brother packs a punch." She shrugged, "Speaking of, did you guys hear how many items they have? They must have hunted down nearly every team out here."

"I heard." Dean nodded, "I can't say I'm surprised though, he does have two archangels with him."

"Well now you've got two as well." Michael offered, "So let's show them how teamwork is really handled."

Castiel and Balthazar shoved off one another and stood again, neither of them even bothering to fix their mussed up hair. "I've made a plan with Gabriel to free Sam from Lucifer, so what we need to do at this point is just take him down." Castiel explained, surprisingly stern considering what he'd just stood up from.

"Oh yeah, that sounds easy. Let's 'just take down the devil', no big deal or anything. It'll be just like getting the mail." Chuck muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Anna glared at him but it quickly dissolved into laughter, she had to admit he was kind of funny sometimes and considering the fact that they were going to go fight one of the toughest sons of bitches out there, it was appreciated. Chuck smiled a little, surprised she'd actually laughed this time and stood a little bit taller, but just a little.

Dean smiled at all the friends they'd gathered and had to raise his hand to say something, "Can I sleep first?"

Castiel snorted back a laugh and nodded, "Yes, of course you can."


	21. Chapter 21

Sam sat and ran a hand through his hair, listening to the new count of teams present, it no longer mattered who had more items because they'd all end up fighting soon enough. He, Lucifer, and Gabriel had taken down the remaining straggling teams except for the one with the archangel Michael, Raphael (something that seemed to rub Lucifer the wrong way though Sam didn't know why), two other random angels and of course Castiel and Dean. Sam couldn't believe it was so close to this tournament being down to just him and Dean. Then again what was he expecting? The two people in the world who had managed to find their angel and make the perfect bond in the same tournament would definitely end up the final two.

"Ready to find them yet?" Gabriel looked over from a few feet away, his arms folded behind his head in a relaxed position. Sam still couldn't figure out what switch flipped in the angel but considering the amount of emotional support he'd been getting since then he wasn't going to complain or ask. Though at the same time such a drastic change had to mean something, right? He didn't know what it was if something had happened...

"Sam?" Lucifer added, pushing him out of his thoughts entirely.

"Yeah... I'm ready but there are still others left." Sam stood up and started walking.

"Thing is those guys are probably with Dean and Castiel right now anyway." Gabriel dropped his arms and smiled, "Yep, they'll team up against us before we get to your brother so at this point I'd suggest getting ready for a few fights."

Sam nodded slowly as he thought it over, "So... Dean's friends don't want to beat him but help him? That's... wow. I have no idea what to say to that."

"Not like usual human behaviour, huh?" Gabriel smirked, glancing over at Lucifer who didn't seem to care.

"They're still enslaving angels; they'll need to be taken down as well." Lucifer muttered.

Sam ran a hand through his hair and just kept walking; they'd have to run into Dean at some point. "Hey guys," he called over his shoulder as the two angels respectively stuck their tongues out at one another. "When this is over we're sticking to viral videos and blowing shit up."

Gabriel laughed and caught up to him, throwing an arm around the hips he was starting to miss. "You got it, gorgeous."

* * *

_A dark room only made his eyelids feel heavier, his limbs sluggish and difficult to move. He was sleepy, obviously. He'd never felt so slow mentally and physically unless he'd been sleeping or unconscious. Dean rolled over in his bed, his hands enjoying the sensation of clean sheets and his nose loving it even more. The scent his mother picked out for laundry was perfect, everything she did was perfect. He inhaled softly and wriggled happily in the comfort. Tomorrow was a big day, he couldn't remember exactly what was going to happen but he did know that tomorrow would be something he was excited about. Or was he scared? Nervous maybe? He wasn't exactly sure what the strong emotion attached was._

_The door to his room creaked and slowly a stream of light entered and splashed over his face. He made a mental note to move everything in his bedroom so that didn't happen anymore. He opened his eyes to see a tiny figure peering in at him, little hands clinging to the doorknob and frame respectively._

" _Dean?" Sam's voice floated into the room very gently, it sounded so much younger than Dean remembered._

" _Sammy," he mumbled tiredly, "What're you doing here?"_

" _I..." Sam shifted slightly and wiggled the doorknob anxiously. "I had a bad dream. Can I sleep here?"_

_Dean smiled and shuffled over, "Come on."_

_Sam closed the door and bolted across the room, diving into his big brother's bed and squirming beneath the sheets. He pressed up against Dean and for what sounded like the first time that night managed a relieved breath. "Thanks, Dean."_

" _No problem, big guy." Dean kissed the top of Sam's head and wrapped his arms around the, what he figured to be, at least 10-year-old boy. "What was the nightmare about?"_

_There was a long pause, the only sound Dean could hear was Sam's breathing as it slowed down into a more calming rhythm. "I... it's kind of weird."_

" _Try me."_

_Sam looked up, big green eyes that Dean remembered could get almost anything they wanted. "I was dragged away... by the devil."_

_Dean furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to say something when he saw the glint of someone's eyes beneath the blanket next to Sam's head. He tensed but couldn't do anything as he saw large arms fly up and around Sam, grabbing the boy and yanking him violently from the bed._

" _ **DEAN!"**_

"SAM!" Dean sat upright like a shot screaming at the top of his lungs. Castiel instantly wrapped him in a hug from behind, strong arms and hands holding him close.

"It's okay." He whispered and tightened his grip, feeling the heavy rise and fall of Dean's chest. "It'll be okay..."

Dean twisted and turned to face his angel, this time burying his face against Castiel's chest, sobbing painfully. His fingers dug into Castiel's coat and clung there, he didn't care who watched him cry, he just didn't care about anything except for who was holding him and his little brother.

Michael turned away from the spectacle and moved around their camp's perimeter. Raphael rose to follow him and they both stood in silence for a few minutes, listening to the slowly quieting agony that Dean was in. Michael shook his head and let out a low growl of frustration. Raphael nodded in return and crossed his arms, "You think Lucifer's too far gone?"

"Definitely," Michael muttered solemnly, "He'll kill every human if he can get in the right position, and with Sam at his side it's just a matter of time. Right now Lucifer needs Sam to cooperate with him to be at full strength but once they manage to wipe threats like us out, threats like Dean and Cas, he won't need to worry about being full strength. He'll just take over Sam's mind and kill every last human present."

Raphael sighed and scratched his head, "Well then what do we do?"

"We make sure that Dean and Castiel don't lose." Michael shrugged, "That's about all we can hope for. With a perfect bond Lucifer was able to swat you like a bug, Dean and Castiel are our only chance at this point."

Raphael laughed, an odd thing to do at a time like that, "Ever wonder why? Or what happened?"

"Every day."

"I think a lot of us do." Sam said as he walked off a nearby trail, his face holding a gentle expression as his eyes genuinely looked upset at the thought. "Hi, I'm Sam."

"We've heard." Michael nodded and glanced at his brothers as they stepped up behind Sam, Gabriel giving a short nod of recognition while Lucifer basically snubbed him. Though Lucifer and Gabriel were both suddenly distracted by Raphael. "Yeah, I figured you'd be surprised."

"Hello guys." Raphael gave a short wave, staring directly into Lucifer's eyes, "I guess you didn't hit as hard as you thought."

"I mostly didn't think any other team would save you, I'm surprised." Lucifer sneered proudly.

"I guess you've forgotten what family is for, or friendship for that matter." Michael snarled, already shifting backward toward the campsite.

"I was locked in a cage; I'm not so sure I ever knew it." Lucifer took a menacing step forward though Sam's hand caught his chest.

"Don't. We're here for Dean, remember?" Sam levelled his tone though he could almost every piece of him shaking. He was here to fight his brother, to honestly hurt Castiel. This was exactly why he hated these kinds of events.

"Well they're also here for Dean and they're in our way." Lucifer said evenly though Sam could hear the anger rising in his voice. "Let go of me, Sam."

_Go back to sleep._

Sam shook his head, his mind managed to deflect the commanding words. "No, listen to me!" He pushed Lucifer back with force this time though his efforts were caught by the archangel and he was pulled into a forceful kiss, one that he adamantly struggled against.

"I'm in charge here." Lucifer hissed, holding Sam close and forcing another kiss on him, his hands tightening their hold on Sam. "So step aside."

"You can't fight without me." Sam glared, for the first time finding clarity in his mind when speaking to Lucifer. Where had it been? "We're equals, Lucifer."

"Far from it." Lucifer laughed, "And I don't think I need you, not as much as you think. I can force perfection, or at least get it pretty damn close so I'm afraid you've reached your limit when it comes to usefulness, at least when your conscious anyway."

Sam struggled but there was nothing he could do to pull away. Gabriel bashed Lucifer in the back of the head, "Let go of him, Lucifer!" Gabriel shouted, motioning for Raphael and Michael to take their chance and run back to their humans.

"You want to play, Gabriel?" Lucifer smiled, glancing over at the determined expression etched into Gabriel's face.

"You bet I do, big boy." Gabriel glanced at Sam whose eyes had already started to close, his head rolling backward lazily.  _'Damn it...'_

Lucifer let Sam go but instead of dropping to the ground Sam straightened up and stared forward with dead eyes locked on his angel, Gabriel felt a horrible wrenching in his chest just knowing that Sam was locked in there somewhere. "Alright, let's play." Lucifer's wings flexed and Gabriel couldn't find the strength to withstand it, he hurdled backward into the trees behind him and destroyed most of them.

"HEY!" Castiel's voice boomed over the start of their skirmish, a blastwave cracking up the ground in front of Lucifer to get his attention. "I think you came here with a purpose, did you not?" He walked around in front of his older brother, more strength in his eyes than Lucifer was prepared to see.

"You aren't scared?" Lucifer sneered with a bit of a laugh.

"Why would I be afraid of a child?" Castiel responded sternly, his wings arching offensively. Sharp blue eyes snapped to look at Sam and he visibly winced at the sight. "You've gone too far, Lucifer."

"I've been hearing that a lot lately." Lucifer glanced back at Sam, admiring his work.

"You've pushed too deep, he can't handle that strain for very long. Let go of him." Castiel demanded, Dean following his steps closely though his eyes were stuck on his little brother's awkward movements.

"Not going to happen." Lucifer wound up and lashed out at Castiel, a force behind his arm that resulted in the destruction of mostly everything around them. Castiel had managed to grab Dean's arm and take flight, barely managing to avoid the heavy weight attack. Dean looked down from their vantage point and his mouth fell open, that quarter of the island had started to crumble from the force placed on it, pieces of it caving in and falling away.

Castiel adjusted and tossed Dean over his shoulder and wing onto his back, "This isn't going to be an easy fight, Dean." He said without any hints to give away how he felt but Dean didn't need them. The air around them pulsed slightly as they connected completely, Dean's eyes focusing down on the figure of Lucifer with Sam climbing onto his back.

"Not at al." Dean could feel his heart pounding, adrenaline pumping hard in his system. He could see Sam's face clearly, images of the sweet boy he remembered from years ago reminding him why he loved the kid.

" _We pit them against their own brothers and sisters and tell them to fight! How would you feel if someone kidnapped us and threw us in a ring and told you to beat the shit out of me?"_

Dean remembered Sam's words clearly as if the fourteen year old teen had said them to him yesterday. It had been the day before his eighteenth birthday, how could he have ever known then that this is where they would end up? That this is what his little brother would end up being? "I'm so sorry Sammy..."

Castiel glanced to see where their friends were scrambling and taking flight just at the same time as Lucifer burst through the air. Castiel narrowed his eyes and braced himself before launching himself directly at the archangel angled for a head-on collision. Dean didn't flinch at the move, perfectly in-tune with what Castiel was thinking. His hands clenched but loosened in the split second before they hit.

Castiel swung into a barrel-roll at the last second, barely missing the contact by an inch as he flew upside down above his older brother. Dean let go of Castiel in that moment and hooked his arm under Sam's, forcing his little brother free from Lucifer's back and curling his unresponsive body against himself and Castiel again. Castiel levelled out and hurdled toward the ground right past their friends, managing a high five with Balthazar as he passed.

Sam's body tensed and turned an angry stare on Dean, a look in his eye that Dean knew didn't belong to Sam. "Let me go." The younger Winchester demanded and didn't hesitate to hit Dean with all he had. Sam didn't stop at that, he wrenched a fist in Castiel's wing and cranked it in a way it wasn't meant to twist, Castiel's head jerked backward and a sharp screech escaped him. He'd lost his equilibrium at the wrong moment, proven by the hard landing he'd crashed into.

Dean flew from Castiel's back and hurdled several feet, tumbling and rolling until his back smashed into a poorly placed rock. He groaned and started to get up as soon as his limbs would allow, he wasn't even sure how he was managing it. He looked up to see Sam stumbling to his feet and walking in his direction, a murderous intent lurking in the darkened places Dean remembered seeing green. "Sammy..." Dean leaned back on the rock to help himself stand, "Sammy, listen to me. You don't have to do this. We don't have to do any of this."

Sam stopped right in front of him and an ugly smile twisted up his face, "No, I don't think you get it Dean. We  _have_  to do this. We don't have a choice anymore."

"Lucifer's really got you..." Dean muttered sadly. "It's okay Sam, I'll save you, I promise." Sam wound up to strike but Dean caught his arm and flipped him over, pinning him to the ground. Sam grunted and struggled but wasn't strong enough to push his big brother away. "I'm stronger than you, Sammy." Dean groaned as he worked to hold Sam down.

Castiel had been quietly writhing on the crater he'd managed to make as he popped the joint Sam had messed with back into place. "Fuck!" he snarled as he stood up and flexed it several times to make sure it worked. "Fuck that hurt! Goddamn it!" he cursed over and over to help ease the pain; he was surprised to find that it helped. He looked over at Dean wrestling Sam then looked up at the mess in the sky, Gabriel was nowhere to be found, he had to wonder if the archangel had legitimately been knocked out by that one hit earlier.  _'Probably just hiding.'_ He decided and moved to help Dean, pulling the brothers apart and freeing Sam.

Dean frowned, "What the hell-"

"They need us up top, Dean." Castiel pointed up, "Remember? Lucifer?"

"Right," Dean looked down at Sam who'd stood up again but had promptly been knocked back down with a short shockwave from Castiel. "Let's go."

However before they could get moving Lucifer crash landed nearby with enough force to send them tumbling again. Castiel quickly flipped onto his feet and stood again but it wasn't enough time to do anything to stop the devil from doing what he'd come down to do. Lucifer had moved to Sam's side again and pulled him close.

Balthazar stared down in disbelief. "SEE!" He glanced back at Garth who shrugged.

"Well how was I supposed to know that's what he'd do when we hit him?"

"Because I TOLD you that's what he wanted!" Balthazar snapped.

"Oh for the love of..." Anna started back toward the ground, "Come on! He's right in front of Cas and Dean!"

Michael and Raphael had needed no instruction and were already in a full dive to meet the fight. Balthazar gave Garth a flat expression but followed suit, "Better hold on tight, you stupid monkey."


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter I finally get to start the section I actually started this fic for! That's right, I started Angel Training for what happens at the end of this chapter. Took me freakin' long enough to get here! Also, for those of you who enjoyed the light hearted quips and things in the last chapter and the ones coming up in this chapter I'll have to give you fair warning: enjoy them while you can because shit is about to hit the fan *evil grins*

" _Here it is."_   _Gabriel spoke to himself mostly as he finally reached the connection space, a bitter chill making his naked flesh feel all the more exposed. He looked down the path that he knew was his connection to Sam, the one that had been left barren for a long time now. He furrowed his brow and ventured over it, past the supposed barrier that would normally stop him but he didn't come this far to let it hinder him._

_His space looked normal but the further he went into Sam's area it felt colder and colder and after he stepped over the threshold he realized something, there was a second pathway. "Sam mentioned this once." He stared down at it and he could feel his limbs tense, his heart pounded harder and he knew he couldn't ignore it this time. He took one step, two and three as he started down the darkened road and soon burst into a run, hurrying to Sam._

_He slowed down as something came into view, his mouth opening as he gawked at it. Lucifer sat with Sam curled in his arms, the darkness had grown thick enough to be tangible and had penetrated Sam in every way possible and some that shouldn't have been. The strings of black pulsed with every thought and wish Lucifer forced into Sam's mind, tears slipping down Sam's cheeks and mixing with the weight pushed into his mouth. Sam could barely even make choked gurgling noises as he hardly squirmed anymore, just letting Lucifer do as he wanted._

_Gabriel glared and swallowed, pissed at himself for ever letting this get so bad. "Lucifer, it's time to let go of him." Of course Lucifer was too focused on the fight he was in to fully comprehend Gabriel's presence. Lucifer's expression had been twisted in an agonizing rage, something on the outside must have been seriously distracting. Gabriel walked right up to them and placed his hands on his brother's most vulnerable form. What he was about to do, the kind of harm it could cause both Lucifer and him, he knew that normally he'd be terrified and he'd never do it. But the sight of Sam like this, knowing he'd let it happen, Gabriel was willing to do anything for any kind of redemption it might give him._

_A bright light flashed between them, Lucifer's eyes opened and he looked at Gabriel but it wasn't soon enough to do anything. Gabriel smiled as they both erupted into light, "Love you, Sam."_

_A while earlier in the outside world..._

Michael strained to stand again but his limbs weren't responding right anymore. He looked over at Bella who he'd discarded a safe distance away. She covered her mouth as tears streamed down her cheeks. He growled and pushed harder, he could hear the sounds of Lucifer beating the others, Chuck's girlish shriek for Anna, Balthazar's demands that Garth wake up, Annie's crying 'not again damn it', and Castiel's hideous screeching. Michael couldn't stand the sound, it drowned out everything else. Mutilation was a disturbing thing but it was much worse when Lucifer decided to do it.

An overwhelming attack that had covered the entire remainder of the island was something Lucifer had fun using. It'd knocked them all down to their knees the first time, their faces the second. During the time they'd needed to get back up Lucifer had gone to Castiel, the most influential and annoying individual he could think of, and had carved up one of the poor thing's wings. He'd peeled most of the skin and feathers away, ripping out as much muscle as he could and snapped the bones he could see. Castiel hadn't shut up since, of course who could blame him?

Lucifer threw Anna to the ground, her body limp and Michael would have guessed lifeless. Chuck hurried to her side but hesitated to touch her, "Anna?" He squeaked timidly.

Lucifer glared down at Chuck, something about the man struck a bad chord with him. "You filthy human, you dare to pretend to care about her after owning her? After putting a collar on her neck and forcing her through these things?"

Chuck trembled but looked up, his jaw clenched and hands balling into fists. "None of it was ever my idea. I mean the first part was all in my father's will and I didn't let her go after that because she might've been taken by Crystal Wings or something. I joined the tournament because she wanted to, she wanted to fight and help Dean and Castiel." His eyes widened as he spoke, watching Lucifer's unforgiving expression while the archangel wound back to strike him down. "I'm not pretending, I do care about her." He said shakily.

"God, just shut up Chuck!" Balthazar shouted.

Chuck shook his head, his eyes never leaving Lucifer's, "I can't. I'm too scared."

Lucifer's hand swung down again, though this time instead of connecting with his target he'd cracked down on Castiel's shoulder, an unyielding force that sent a wave of vibrations up Lucifer's arm. "You little-"

Castiel's eyes glowed a violent white, Dean standing directly behind him with the exact same expression and light in his eyes.  _"Step back, Lucifer."_  They said as they stepped closer. Castiel's wings had been retracted, or at least the one good one had been, the other was unmoveable and therefore remained hanging off his back like an ugly reminder.

"You can't possibly think you can beat me." Lucifer scoffed, Sam walking up beside him and placing a hand on Castiel's, "You forget I have Sam with me."

" _Sam will be okay."_  They swatted Sam aside and stood in front of Chuck, between the downed teams and Lucifer.  _"You've gone too far."_

Lucifer flinched and stepped back, "What is this? Your bond can't get any stronger than it already is what on earth are you doing?"

" _God's still on our side, Lucifer and I think you pissed Him off."_

Lucifer's eyes widened, a wave of fear washing over him just as he felt something wrong inside. Sam stumbled and fell backward, hitting the ground hard and not lifting his head again. Lucifer's face went blank for a moment, Castiel knew he was looking inward to his bond but what happened next was entirely unexpected to the angel.

Lucifer was suddenly engulfed in light and when it faded he stumbled backward and fell to his knees, clutching at his chest. "NO!" He screamed and writhed, falling down onto his face and curling up on himself but nothing he did stopped the next thing from happening. His grace tore out of his body, shining a disturbing blood red that was quickly dripping off of it and engulfing the entire area in another blinding flash that sounded like it hit ground with crashing force.

Castiel lifted his head again when it was over his eyes slowly fading down to their usual blue. Lucifer lay unmoving on the ground next to Sam who was starting to stir again. Dean rushed to his little brother's side, adjusting him until he was lying in Dean's lap with his head properly supported. "Sammy?" Dean whispered, touching the boy's face, "Sam, talk to me."

Sam's eyes fluttered open he swallowed once and looked around, "Dean?" He asked weakly, "What... what happened?"

"It's over, you're okay." Dean smiled, tears slipping down his cheeks, "You're okay, Sammy."

Sam sobbed lightly, his mouth pulled tight as he fought the ache in his chest and sting in his eyes. "Dean..." he blubbered against his will, his bottom lip starting to quiver, and he sniffled back running fluids. "Dean I'm so sorry..."

Dean wrapped Sam up in a hug and didn't let go, "It's okay, no need to be sorry."

Castiel smiled a little at the two brothers but didn't dare let his mind come down from the adrenaline high, not yet. He looked at the others; Michael had been helped into a sitting position with Bella clinging to his side. Balthazar was swatting a now conscious Garth who was seriously asking what he'd missed, Raphael was still flat on his back but his eyes were open so Annie looked a lot calmer. And though Anna was still unconscious something had changed with Chuck; he wasn't just fainted or passed out, he'd been knocked several feet back but he was the only one.

Castiel walked to his side and knelt next to him, "Chuck?" He nudged the man but stopped when he saw the markings left by what he now suspected was Lucifer's grace. Castiel stared in disbelief, his fingers touching it gently; he could still feel the almost radio-active sensations pulsing out of him. "Chuck... what..."

Chuck opened his eyes slowly and exhaled a shaky breath, "Ow..." He looked down at the hole in his shirts and sighed, "Man..."

"Are... are you..."

"Shhh," Chuck put his finger to his lips, looking up at Castiel, "Don't say it."

"Father?" Castiel's eyes watered as his voice cracked. "Are you-"

"Shh," Chuck sat up and put his finger to Castiel's lips next, "I said don't say it." He glanced at the others who were a little pre-occupied and sighed lightly, "Yes."

"How long have you been Chuck?" Castiel gawked though he still couldn't stop the tears.

"There is no Chuck." He answered.

"You said you were injured!" Castiel hissed, shoving Chuck's chest and knocking him back to the ground.

"Ow... again." Chuck winced and tried to sit up again. "I am, I've got almost no power left whatsoever. Well, there's a bit now but that's from Lucifer and Gabriel."

"Why? What happened? Why's Gabriel in there too?"

"One question at a time, and ask quieter." Chuck hushed him firmly but it wasn't soon enough, Garth had over-heard them.

"You're who?" Garth sat down next to Chuck.

Balthazar stared down in awe, seeing what Castiel had seen. "God." He said in almost a whisper, "You're stuck, right?"

"That's right." Chuck sighed heavily, "I gave everything I had to you all."

"What do you mean?" Castiel wiped his eyes, "To angels?"

"Yes, without Heaven's power you all would be weaker than humankind and would probably have died off ages ago. I put the last of my strength into giving you all self-sustaining power, however in the process it seems I've made you more vulnerable to men. I had no idea they'd capture you, I didn't know they could until... well..." Chuck shrugged, "But at least you aren't dead."

Michael hobbled over to them, leaning on Bella until he slipped off her and fell to his knees, bowing to Chuck until his forehead touched the ground, "Father, I am so sorry I couldn't take care of them..." he squeezed his eyes shut, "I didn't know the humans were planning something that day, I led them all right into it..."

"Calm down, it's all working out isn't it?" Chuck raised his hands in a surrendering motion, "I mean, now anyway." He looked up at Castiel, "Good job, I'm really proud of you."

Castiel smiled a little and looked away, happier than ever to earn such a comment from his Father. "Thank you, but where is Gabriel?"

Chuck exhaled slowly, "Wrestling with Lucifer, currently." He closed his eyes and the same scorch mark in his chest started to glow again until a smaller pure light escaped and quickly zipped off into the trees. "He'll be here soon."

Castiel relaxed and then winced, his back aching like a son of a bitch. "Ah..." he glanced over his shoulder at the bloody mess that used to be his left wing. He quickly looked away again; he couldn't stomach the sight of it.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for that..." Chuck said sadly, "Lucifer didn't just tear it apart he cursed it, no angel can heal your wing, I'm sorry."

"It's... it'll be okay." Castiel sighed shakily, "I'll just have to get someone to remove the rest of it so I can at least not have this..." he shuddered and groaned from the pain the muscle spasm caused, "This shredded lump hanging from my back."

Dean was looking over at them from his position with Sam and swallowed hard, "Cas..."

"He hates me now, doesn't he?" Sam asked softly.

"Never, Sam. Cas would never, ever hate you. It's impossible." Dean stroked his brother's face, looking down into the dewy-eyed expression he was getting in return. "It's gonna be fine."

"Heya, Sam." Gabriel said cheerily as he approached.

Sam scrambled upright and despite the shaking in his legs he bolted to his angel's arms, hanging off Gabriel until they both hit the ground again. "Gabriel," he sobbed immediately as he nuzzled Gabriel's chest, "I'm-"

"If you say you're sorry I'll have to hit you." Gabriel smiled and lifted Sam's chin so he could kiss the tear soaked lips he'd been yearning for. He held Sam there until the young man stopped squirming and kissed back, Sam's fingers clinging just a little harder and his breathing just a little bit hotter.

Dean took that moment to walk toward Castiel who had stepped back to allow Michael and the other angels a chance to speak to Chuck. Dean smiled as he reached out to touch Castiel's shoulder but he couldn't; a net not unlike the one John had used the first time landed on Castiel and in seconds he was off the ground and being hauled into the air. The angel shrieked, a sound all of them were used to hearing by now, he thrashed violently but nothing he did could break the chains.

Dean stared in completely shock as he watched his angel get hauled up to a helicopter that Crowley was promptly waving at them from. "You win!" He called down through a mega-phone though it was still tough to hear him.

Dean's heart felt like it was about to stop as he watched Castiel's terrified blue eyes quickly fly out of focus. "CAS!" Dean finally found the voice to scream but it was too late, much too late.

Gabriel scowled and took to the skies after the helicopter though he was promptly struck down by a specially made weapon, his wings seized entirely and he plummeted back to the ground. It was a similar situation with Michael and Balthazar, Michael succumbed to an electrified field that washed over them from a tossed angel-grenade and fell just like Gabriel had. Balthazar fought against each weapon he could, defying every law of physics and logic as he reached for Castiel's hand.

"Balthazar!" Castiel cried out, their finger tips brushing ever so slightly.

Balthazar strained every muscle he had to fly faster than his seized wings would allow him but a shot from an angel-targeting bazooka from the helicopter sent him hurdling back to earth.

"BALTHAZAR!" Castiel shrieked.

Balthazar felt every muscle numb itself and stop moving entirely, his eyes were starting to lose focus and the last thing he saw felt like it was slow motion. Castiel's vibrant blue eyes filled with fear and concern, tears flowing evenly on both sides of his face, his mouth opened in a scream and his hand reaching uselessly for someone else's to pull him to safety. Balthazar's vision went black then, that image burned into his retinas until he'd wake again.


	23. Chapter 23

Sam sat staring after the tiny helicopter in the distance, Gabriel unconscious next to him, Michael unconscious with Bella, Balthazar barely breathing next to Garth, Anna and Chuck were both down for the count, and Raphael hadn't even been able to sit up yet. They were grounded, firmly stuck and there was nothing they could do until the angels woke up.

Dean had been standing on the shoreline screaming at the top of his lungs for the past twenty minutes, Castiel was long gone. Sam lowered his head and sighed heavily; considering none of the angels had stirred even a little bit they'd probably be stuck for quite a while. He stood and walked to Dean's side and joined him for a moment, screaming the same 'give him back' 'cas' and 'fuck you' lines that he knew Dean would continue to use.

Dean stopped after a few more minutes and dropped his head with a harsh and frustrated sob, "He's gone, Sam."

"Yeah..." Sam glanced at the others then back at Dean, "So what do you say we get out of here?"

"We can't, Sam." Dean snapped, "Everyone's unconscious!"

Sam smirked, "The angels are, yeah." He lifted his phone and punched in a few numbers, "Hey, yeah it's me. All of it? Wow... Well regardless I need ride... ... Awesome, you can't miss us, see you in a few." He hung up and waved the phone a little at Dean, "Our ride's already on its way."

"Who...?" Dean paused and remembered that Sam wasn't the only member of the Freedom Fighters.

"Ready to chase after those bastards?" Sam smiled as he walked back to the group.

Dean lit up just a little and ran after his brother, "You rock, you know that?"

"I had a feeling." Sam laughed, keeping himself mostly upright when Dean threw an arm around his shoulders.

"You're also taller than I remember."

"That too."

* * *

"We've got him, a lot easier than I expected." Crowley laughed over the intercom with the other executives. "Bringing him in now."

"Good," The Crystal Wings executive replied first, "We've got the facility prepped and ready for him."

Crowley turned the radio off after that, leaning back and relaxing in his comfy specially made seat, lifting his scotch to his lips with a smile. "Maybe now he'll stop meddling."

* * *

Dean clung to the armrests of his chair like death was lingering over him, he hated flying with a passion, the only one he trusted to fly with him was Castiel and Castiel was missing, taken, stolen from him. "Couldn't we have, I don't know, jumped on the cruise ship?"

"Crowley owns that, pretty sure it wasn't there anymore." Sam replied, adjusting Gabriel's unconscious form in a seat and shoving Lucifer's under the chairs, he didn't particularly care what happened to Lucifer but Chuck insisted on bringing him with. You generally don't argue with the supposed person who everyone is calling God.

"So things didn't go right, huh?" Andy asked, handing Sam a can of pop.

"Not the way we planned it, nope." Sam smiled and gladly downed the carbonated drink. "Though I can't say I'm surprised, I wasn't exactly in my right mind..." He scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat, "Regardless, we have a new mission. Angel Entertainment has teamed up with Crystal Wings, I'm pretty sure."

"Yeah actually, that was something they broadcasted during the tournament." Charlie added from her co-pilot seat, "A lot of the bad footage was played, sadly. People are worried about Lucifer though I'm guessing that since today's stuff was aired live and he was beaten they aren't terribly upset anymore."

"So then they saw the capture of Castiel?" Sam furrowed his brow, "I could imagine that'd upset a lot of people."

"They cut the transmission right before that, people have no idea." Andy shook his head, "Except we jacked their cameras so we can add it to the news if you wanted."

"Do it." Sam smiled, "Everything they skipped out on, probably the parts with me returning to sanity and all that."

"If you could avoid anything with me after a certain point..." Chuck lifted a hand to interject in the conversation, Anna's head propped up in his lap.

"Right, anything with him just leave out, alright?" Sam looked at Charlie who gave a thumbs up.

"You got it, boss."

"I'm still going to have to get used to that." Dean muttered uncomfortably.

"Well start getting used to it because it's not changing any time soon." Sam smiled as he sat down next to Dean, reaching over and grabbing his brother's stiff hand. "Hey..." He said softly, "It'll be alright."

"We don't even know where they're bringing him." Dean blurted out, "How the hell can we..." he trailed off and shook his head, reaching inside his pocket for one of the more useful golden items he'd collected. Dean pulled the compass out and flipped it open, "It's still pointing at him..."

Sam stared at it, "At Cas?"

"Yeah, a lot of the items were a sort of reminder about the people closest to you. This one points at Cas when I'm holding it and at me when he does. The locket we got originally showed us together..." he bit his lip and shook his head in the hopes it would shake away the tears as well. "I need to find him... He's probably so scared right now."

"Cas is pretty tough." Sam looked down at his hands as he folded them together, "But if Angel Entertainment mixed up with Crystal Wings then I'm not so sure he'll be okay for very long."

"The video you'd aired, the one with all the tortured angels and all that... It gave him nightmares; he hadn't gotten over them before we entered the tournament either. Cas is more scared now than ever and there's nothing I can do for him." Dean ran his hand down his face, the other clutching the compass tightly. "We need to find them, now."

"Well you'll have to direct the pilots," Sam pressed the release button on Dean's seatbelt. "Because no one can hold that thing but you."

Dean nodded and walked over to the cockpit, "Hey, nice to meet you I'm Dean, Sam's older brother. New orders from the big man."

Sam smiled; glad that Dean could so easily get over his fear of flying if it meant Castiel's safety. Gabriel groaned softly, pulling Sam out of his current thoughts and to his angel's side. "Hey," Sam whispered, taking Gabriel's hand, "How are you feeling?"

"Did anyone get him?" Gabriel's eyes popped open suddenly, "Is Cas okay?"

Sam shook his head solemnly, "No, they still have him but we're on our way to rescue him so don't worry about it."

Gabriel sighed and dropped his head against the chair again. "That idiot... I don't think anyone realizes the kind of strength that angel has. Cas has managed to inspire millions, probably more. He snapped me out of my self-loathing spree and pretty much forced me to do everything I could to save you. If it weren't for him I would have run away and left you there..."

Sam nodded, "Cas has always been pretty special, even from the first day. I've heard the things he's said to me, about me... I wish I could have done more for him, so I'm going to. We'll save him, Gabriel. He won't be one hundred percent, probably, but we'll try our best to get him close."

* * *

Castiel was thrown into a dark wet cell, his naked limbs hitting the stone hard. He whimpered and shifted into a fetal position, glancing up at the walls surrounding him and couldn't do anything to stop the terror that filled him. His grace was locked inside from the sigils etched into every little thing; his one good wing was forced out of his back again while the other still hung ragged and throbbing. "Help me..." he whispered softly, "Please someone..." He sobbed and started to stand up when the door opened again, several men walked in and clamped chains down on his limbs and around his neck.

"Please let me go." He begged but they didn't listen, like he were some kind of dog that was just barking nonsense. "PLEASE!"

"Muzzle him." One of them said before something was clasped around his mouth and he found that nothing he did could make a single sound. Tears fell silently from his eyes, pain shooting up through his wing and into his spine as they pinned him down on the metal bed; a heavy leather strap with enochian carved into it was placed over his stomach, thighs, and forehead. The shackles on his limbs were hooked through special loops welded into the floor and pulled his arms and legs straight.

Castiel didn't dare struggle though he couldn't help the tenseness caused by his fear. He closed his eyes and thought about Dean, about his face his thoughts, dreams and goals in life. But mostly he thought about the proposal, the life they'd never have together. He was pretty sure death wasn't too far off for him, if they'd bothered to capture him they didn't want him getting back out again, regardless of how much fun torturing him would be.

' _Dean...'_  He thought as he listened to the disturbing conversation of how pretty he was,  _'Please save me... I need you.'_

"Well, look at this. All prepped and ready I suppose?" Crowley asked as he walked in, a wicked grin on his face.

"Yes sir." The men answered.

"Dismissed, boys. I want this one alone." Crowley sent them out and leaned over Castiel's face, his eyes still closed tightly. "Look at me, Castiel."

Castiel trembled and lifted his gaze slowly.

"That's better. Now do you know why you're here?" Crowley unhinged the muzzle, letting it drop to the floor.

"Please let me go," Castiel whispered.

"That didn't answer the question, ducky." Crowley found a syringe and checked to see its contents, his grin only widening. "Do you know why you're here?"

"Because of what I've been doing, the revolution that's started." Castiel said shakily, watching the needle point angled his direction. "Please, don't hurt me... Please"

"Quit begging, it's pathetic." Crowley jabbed it into Castiel's neck and slowly pushed down on the other end.

Castiel gasped and hiccupped a breath from the sudden pressure. "Ah..." he held his breath, waiting for something to happen. "What do you plan to do with me?" He asked quietly, hoping to distract himself from whatever that was.

"What do you think? I'm pretty sure you've got a good idea considering the position you're in." Crowley smirked. "You will be my little pet until I'm done with you."

"Sir," Another one of the facility workers poked his head in, "The Freedom Fighters are up to something, they're airing the tournament's ending."

"So?" Crowley glanced at him, "We already showed people that part."

"No... I mean when the angel was captured."

"Son of a..." Crowley growled, "Are you fucking kidding me! You lot couldn't stop a stupid petty group like that from airing our own goddamn footage!" Crowley's face turned beat red as he shouted at the messenger.

Castiel could hear his heart beat faster and faster, the sound deafening as it shook his system. "Ah... Ah! AH!" He arched as much as his bonds would allow but nothing he did could relieve the pain that his system was coursing through him. "What did you do to me!" He cried, writhing and wincing from the pain in his wing.

"Change of plans, baby." Crowley snarled with a sarcastic smile, "You're going to be my example for the rest of your god forsaken race."

Castiel could feel his body heating up from the drug he'd been given; every muscle tenses and flexed against his will. He gasped and struggled now, whatever muscle that was left in his left wing had started to tense with the rest of them and caused blinding pain all on its own so not struggling now to save himself the pain was an idiotic move. He squirmed and pulled against his shackles, starting to scream louder as something much deeper in him started to burn.

"Ah, it reached your grace." Crowley smiled, "Finally."

Castiel gasped and wheezed but still managed to speak, "What... what's it going to do?"

"Well first it poisons your grace and slowly eats away at you; if you have a bond or connection with a human usually their soul starts to rot away too." Crowley smirked, "Since you two are so strong together I'd imagine that it'd eat him up pretty fast."

Castiel's eyes widened but he saw no other way to save Dean than what he was about to do. He swallowed his fear, how did today ever get like this? He made up his mind and though his heart beat faster and faster he knew what was necessary, he couldn't let this hurt Dean.  _"I'm so sorry, baby."_  He thought, closing his eyes.

_Castiel's eyes flashed open instantly and he rushed to the space connecting them, the solid place that gave him so much comfort. He could see the poison darkening his own half and leaking across to Dean's. "Oh no you don't." Castiel snarled and wound up smashing his fist down on their bond. A tormenting wave washed over him but he ignored it, he hit it again this time he had to ignore Dean's screams mixed with his own. A third hit with all of his strength shattered it, cutting the poison off entirely. He laughed bitterly as he watched it swarm against the barrier erected from their disconnection, "Fuck you, Crowley." He said through a waterfall of tears, his entire body was in pain now._

* * *

Dean flinched and grabbed at his heart, falling suddenly to his knees. He hadn't realized the loud scream that ripped from his throat had startled everyone around him. He gasped and hunched forward, he'd never felt that much heartache in his whole life. "Cas..." he didn't need to enter their shared space to know what it was. "They cut him off from me... Cas!" He stumbled to his feet and looked down at the compass which continued to point them in the right direction. "He can't be... No... Cas no..."

"What?" Sam was right behind him, helping him stand again.

"He's gone. Our connection it's... it's empty." Dean turned terrified eyes on his brother, "Do you think they killed him?"

"Or they cut your bond off." Gabriel interjected, "Don't assume he's dead yet, they may just want him to feel alone and scare the shit out of you. Don't quit yet."

Dean nodded, "But what if he's dead?" he whispered, "What'll I do?"

"Even if he's dead we're going in." Michael said as he walked in, finally awake. "I at least want a body to bury, if nothing else."

"Not comforting, Michael." Gabriel scolded.

Dean looked back out the window, his hand gripping the compass tightly. "Cas... Hang on."


	24. Chapter 24

"That's it..." Sam stared down at the building their aircraft flew over, several stories tall and it looked like it'd been made 'Freedom Fighters' ready. "Looks we'll need a plan before we trek in there."

"No! Cas needs me now!" Dean shouted. "I have to save him-"

Sam slammed him against a wall and pinned him there, their eyes connected in a dangerous stare, "No, Dean!" he shouted, "Cas needs to be rescued, he doesn't need you rushing in and getting yourself killed! We need a plan so calm down and start thinking."

Dean's chest heaved up and down with his frustrations and anger but he took a long, deep breath and nodded, Sam was right. Sam let go and walked back over to look at the building they'd been circling for the last few minutes. "Where are we?"

"An island just off the coast of southern California." Andy answered quickly.

"Alright, head to our base just outside of LA." Sam ordered, "We'll regroup there."

Dean slid down the wall and bumped his head against it repeatedly. "Damn it..."

* * *

Castiel stared up at the ceiling now his eyes barely focusing anymore. The poison had a full grip on his grace and he could feel himself slowly being eaten away, he had to wonder how long it'd take. Crowley had moved him from his cell to a room equipped with cameras and everything else; the world must have been in one hell of a confusion spiral for Crowley to act so quickly. People were upset about Lucifer and the things he'd been doing though after seeing his defeat and the things he'd been doing to Sam to begin with people were just confused. Now they would have seen the abduction of Castiel. He wondered what the word was out there?

"Hello all," Crowley started to speak; the cameras must have been rolling already. Castiel wondered if it was live. "I'm sure you've all seen the footage that the Freedom Fighters has put out there earlier today, the extra things that happened at the end of the world tournament. I just want to inform you that they only showed you what they wanted you to see, some things happened between Lucifer and Castiel that were edited out for their benefit. You see we've taken our dear Castiel in because Lucifer's poisoned his mind-"

"You poisoned me you son of a bitch!" Castiel shouted, "You captured me and you plan on killing me, I know because you said so!"

"Would you shut up for ten minutes!" Crowley shouted back.

Castiel struggled but the muzzle was returned to his face. He didn't care though; he caught a glimpse of the 'LIVE' sign glowing a bright red in the corner of the room.

Crowley turned back to the camera with a smile, "Alright, now that he's said it I don't need to worry too much. Yes, we kidnapped Castiel and I'm going to tell you to start going back to the way things were before. We're going to kill Castiel, we're going to kill every angel we get our hands on if you don't. Castiel is your example, angel lovers. Say goodbye to your beloved 'Cas' because this is the last time you'll see him."

Castiel glared at Crowley, despite all the pain he was being wracked with he was mentally daring that short man to take the muzzle off again. Crowley smiled and went to Castiel's side, "Any last words, dear?" He asked as he unclasped the thing.

"Just two things," Castiel gasped, his voice sounding wrecked as the poison nibbled away at him. "Firstly," he looked at the cameras, "whatever happens I still believe in you all. And second," he spat on Crowley, blood leaking out of his mouth, "That's 'Castiel' to you, scum."

Crowley growled and clipped the muzzle in place again, "Cut the cameras!" he shouted, "This one's not going to live to see tomorrow."

* * *

Sam covered his mouth and glanced at Dean's strained expression. He didn't wait long enough to let Dean respond, Sam turned to his people, "You heard them! We've got less than 12 hours before we have to find a safe way in there and break Castiel out. Move it, move it, move it!"

People scattered immediately, rushing to their stations and equipment. Dean ran a hand down his face and turned to look at Chuck, "Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Leave him alone," Anna stepped forward, "He's exhausted, okay?"

Dean felt his limbs shaking and he turned away again, "I'm sorry... I just..."

"I know." Chuck said softly. "I'm sorry, Dean."

Dean walked out of the room and headed outside to get some fresh air. He'd been doing his best to fight it but in that moment all he could do was cry. Tears welled up in his eyes and he broke down, a sobbing weeping mess of a man who missed his fiancé, his partner, his best friend, everything that Castiel was to him could never be described in something as simple as words. Their bond had been cut apart, broken and destroyed to the point that Dean couldn't even see past the barrier between them. It wasn't that Castiel was just unreachable; Dean couldn't see him like he did the first time. He remembered the fearful naked bundle of wings and skin that he had to coax closer and closer until they could touch for the first time. Castiel's timid nature hidden beneath a bravado of rebellion.

Dean had seen it again in that little clip with Crowley, Castiel's brave words shone through but Dean could see right past them. Castiel was in so much pain and he was so scared that it hurt to see him; it ached in that hollow space between them. Dean knew he could hear the cries of his angel if he listened hard enough, even through the murky fog across the barrier. Every second that ticked by Dean knew that Castiel was pleading, begging for his life in some way, praying that someone would save him. What was worse was that Dean knew that every second that passed for Castiel the angel slipped closer and closer to death's door, that Castiel gave up just a little bit more.

"Having some troubles, I take it?" A familiar voice made Dean lift his head to see. Ash stood there with a bag slung over his shoulder and a big grin on his face.

"Ash?" Dean sniffled and wiped his eyes, "Where did you come from? How did you find us?"

"Come on, wasn't that hard." Ash muttered through that accent of his, flicking his hair over his shoulder, "I'm a genius, remember?"

"I thought you worked for Crowley?"

"Been a long time since I quit that job, prob'ly 'round the time you two first one that tournament we met in." Ash smirked, "No c'mon, we got work to do. I hear Cas is in some serious trouble."

"Yeah, but what can you do to help? Crowley's got him locked up in that big building of his." Dean slumped his shoulders and shifted his gaze away.

"Dude, it's me." Ash reminded him again, "I've already got the blueprints and a good plan of attack written down."

"Can I see it?" Dean lit up and was promptly handed a bar napkin."Wha..."

"I'll have to write it down on something more legible." Ash shrugged and walked inside, "Let's go see that bro of yours."

Dean hurried in after him, excitement and a glimmer of hope rising in his mind. "I'll show you where he is." They found Sam in a room with the rest of his planning team, all of them staring at blown up images of the building from all angles.

"I'm here to save the day." Ash announced as he walked in, "Name's Ash, friend of Dean's here. I'm a genius and here's the blueprints." He tossed some rolled up papers onto the table.

Sam glanced down at the pages that his people were starting to unroll then back up at Ash, "I'm Sam, nice to meet you." He looked Ash up and down for a moment before glancing at Dean next. "Didn't you work for Crowley at one point?"

"Quit," Ash nodded, "I've got some battle plans and stuff, so how about we work together?"

"We could use all the help we can get, welcome aboard." Sam smiled.

* * *

Castiel whimpered into the muzzle but no sound escaped outside it. He moaned and squirmed against the perverted hands grabbing at him; Crowley had given his people some time alone with Castiel to do as they wished. One of them suggested sex with an angel might be fun. He'd been penetrated several times, his ass was closing in on sore, blood trickled down his thighs along with other fluids he didn't want to think about. His wrists had been yanked together and tied down while his rear had been propped up for better access.

They were smarter than to try and force him to give them blow jobs though, he had to give them that much. He'd bite off whatever they dared put there and clearly they knew it. He whined into the muzzle again as the last one slammed into him for the last time, a disgusting feeling rushing through his insides as the man came and pulled out. Castiel squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the fresh warm fluids dripping down his legs and even more the forced erection he'd gotten. It wasn't fair, stimulation was a cruel thing.

"Alright boys, enough." Crowley re-entered and shooed his men out again, smiling down at the mess Castiel had been left in. "Oh dear, what would Dean say?" Castiel couldn't answer though the comment didn't bother him, he knew if Dean ever found him like this heads would roll, and not his. Crowley shrugged and grabbed a knife, "Whatever, I'm done being polite with you." He slid it along a sharpening tool a few times and smiled to himself, Castiel couldn't see it properly but he knew it was there. "I do want to hear you scream though," Crowley muttered as he flipped the muzzle off again.

Castiel gasped for fresh air and dropped his head for a moment, or at least until Crowley forced him back onto the metal bed and replaced that strap over his stomach and forehead. Castiel winced again at the shooting pain in his back, his mangled wing trapped under him and twitching disturbingly. Crowley glanced at the strange wriggling and smirked before grabbing it, "What, is this bugging you?"

Castiel yelped and tried to bite back the whine that bubbled up in his throat though he couldn't do much to stop it. He looked up with anger in his eyes though it was quickly being overwhelmed with pain and self-pity. Crowley grinned madly and pulled harder on the mutilated thing, snapping more bones as he yanked, "Don't you all have all those little nerves in here?" He asked menacingly just before digging his knife next to the cluster he'd just mentioned, he would have forced it into it directly but Castiel was on his back and strapped down.

Castiel cried out and shrieked loud enough to crack all the glass in the room, some of the weaker items shattered entirely. He sobbed and gurgled blood, coughing it up and onto his face, and letting it leak out of the corner of his mouth. He inhaled very shakily, everything in him felt so unsteady he wasn't even sure he could breathe right anymore. He closed his eyes, more tears just falling down and tickling his skin but he couldn't do anything to stop that either.

"Just kill me." He whispered.

"Not getting out that easy, sweetheart." Crowley laughed.

"If you don't kill me now I'll make you regret it." Castiel said as evenly as he could manage.

"Threats now, huh?" Crowley smirked, "Don't worry, I'll make sure that as your grace slowly dies I'll put you through as much pain as we've managed to research."

Castiel's lips trembled as he listened to Crowley getting other tools ready, fear was overwhelming him and all he could do was sing quietly to himself;

"Heaven's gates won't open up for me, with these broken wings I'm fallin',

And all I see is you.

These city walls ain't got no love for me, I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story;

And oh I scream for you.

Come please, I'm callin'.

And all I need from you,

Hurry, I'm fallin', I'm fallin'."

"Cute," Crowley smirked, "Listened to the radio a lot, I suppose?"

Castiel started to weep uncontrollably, "Dean..." he whimpered pathetically, "Dean please, where are you?"

"Not coming, sweetie." Crowley grinned maliciously as he came down on Castiel with several of Crystal Wings' devices in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the song reference again lol I was listening to it when I was writing this and thought 'aw, poor Cas' so I put it in.


	25. Chapter 25

The edges of his vision had been without clarity since the whole thing started, pain, tears, and he was starting to think blood was hindering it. Castiel couldn't feel his limbs anymore, or he could and the only sensation he got was a throbbing pain that didn't stop, he wasn't really sure. It'd been several hours of this and Crowley never seemed to get tired of it, or not before now. The man had gone for lunch or something.

Castiel wanted to move his head, get up off this table but he was still firmly strapped down, his neck was cramping and he started to wonder if he still had legs. The straps had been placed over his stomach and forehead again but the one over his thighs hadn't been put down. He slowly lifted his knees, feeling every little crinkle in his spine and hips as he did so. He rested for a moment, his feet flat on the warmed metal, toes crinkling and stretching. He sighed lightly and tried to flex his wings, an action he quickly regretted. His good one had been stuck in an uncomfortable position for far too long and cramped the moment he shifted it, the other had been wrenched and torn from his back entirely, a hollow space in his muscles and nerves where it should have been.

Suddenly the lights flickered and all power shut down for about three seconds before starting back up again. Castiel could almost taste his heart in his throat as it beat a little faster, what was that? He then realized that the straps on him had let go, the power-lock they'd been equipped with to discourage angels from continually pushing at them had disconnected in the power outage. Castiel slowly sat up, pushing the things off his aching body. Everything hurt, even his eyelashes felt like they were going to scream and fall off. He groaned as he shifted to hang his legs over the edge of the bed, or was it a table this whole time? He wasn't sure.

Bare feet touched the cold metal floor and he shuddered from the unsavoury feeling, he wanted to stand now, he wanted to get up and walk out of this horrible room. And yet he wasn't sure if he could, he was missing a wing leaving him horribly off balance, and he didn't even know if he could move his legs properly let alone support his weight. That didn't matter, he needed to get moving. He rose to his feet, though his legs were shaky he thought, just maybe he could walk.

That thought ended quickly as his knees buckled and he fell face first onto the unforgiving floor. He whimpered and cried softly, part of him just really wanted it to all be over, that he didn't have to keep fighting and could just close his eyes to sleep. The rest of him kicked the shit out of that piece and forced him to start crawling, one hand after the other, dragging his naked, bloody form across the room. He glanced back, finding that this felt too easy, that there should be more friction but after seeing the thick bloody trail he was leaving he decided that he'd been greased up enough to make it seem easy.

"Just... a little further... I'll reach Dean and... and it'll be okay..." His voice was hoarse, he'd been screaming for hours so that made sense. He winced as a fresh wave of pain shocked his system again, the poison must've eaten through to a new sensitive point in his grace because despite all the agony he'd been feeling up until that point this hurt like new, like he'd just been freshly stabbed or something. Castiel curled up in the hallway and sobbed violently, hacking and coughing and he was sure there was some vomit in the mix but he just couldn't be sure.

He heard footsteps rushing his way and squeezed his eyes shut; Crowley's men were coming back for him, to make sure that he didn't break free from his room, to put him back. "Please..." he whimpered, "Oh god please help me..."

"Oh my god..." a voice he thought he should recognize caught his attention. Castiel blinked his eyes open to look up at a masked individual staring down at him. He wanted to ask who they were but the only sound the rolled out of him could have been classified as a sort of grinding squeak. "It's okay, Castiel." They said softly and turned back toward the supposed other teams. Castiel tried to focus on the uniform and realized it was a Freedom Fighter that was standing next to him.

He sobbed lightly, a pathetically small smile tugging at his lips. He closed his eyes, relief washing over him. "Castiel, eyes open, look at me." The man knelt down next to him and tapped his cheeks, "Don't you clock out now, you hear me?"

"Where is he!" Some other individuals ran over, all of them wearing the same masks and everything else. Castiel felt silly, being slightly afraid of them all. Too many people too fast. He squirmed and whined when the pain shot through him again, blubbering sobs and everything else. He swatted at their hands and was surprised he'd had enough strength to scream at them with his angelic voice though the moment he did he regretted it, his grace felt like it was on fire and ready to burst in him.

"Step back, give him space!" He heard Anna's voice, he recognized her pretty clearly. "Cas, sweetheart it's going to be fine," She pulled the mask off, her red hair falling over her shoulders and gave him a sense of comfort. "We're all here, okay?" she looked him over but gave nothing away in her expression as to how bad he looked. "Dean's looking for you."

"Dean..." Castiel whimpered and reached for her desperately, "Dean..."

She touched his hand gently and lowered it again, "He's on his way, just stay awake, keep fighting okay? We're almost out of here." She stood up again and moved away from the sight, starting to talk into some kind of radio device. "He's on the second basement level."

" _Seriously? I thought for sure they'd put him on the last floor, that's such a bad guy thing to do."_  Another female voice came over the radio, Annie's, if Castiel could think right he'd have known that. The male kneeling next to him must have been Chuck then, he thought slowly.

"Just get up here." Anna ordered, "Though I'm sure some of you have already tried to fly through floors." Just as she finished that last sentence several more footsteps were heard booking it down the hallway.

"Cas!" Dean shouted as he bolted down the hall and past everyone else. He dropped next to his fiancé's side and hesitated before touching him. "Cas, look at me."

Castiel hadn't realized he'd closed his eyes again and slowly opened them to look up at Dean; he smiled a little and reached for Dean's hand who promptly took it without question. "Dean..." He whispered but started to cough again, his entire body wracked with pain as he shook until the fit ended.

Dean started to pick Castiel up, as much as he didn't want to move the poor thing he couldn't just leave Castiel there either. "Shh," he tried to hush the agonized whining and crying noises Castiel made as he adjusted the angel in his arms. "It's okay," he kissed Castiel's cheek; "I've got you."

Castiel curled up against Dean's chest and tried to hide his face against the man's neck. Chuck pulled his mask off and stood up, "His grace is dying."

"What?" Dean snapped, "What do we do? Is it curable-"

"It's fine, I'd just suggest getting out of here, let Sam handle the rest." Chuck started hurrying toward the exit, past Balthazar and Garth who had finally made it to them.

Dean nodded and followed, glancing a sad look Balthazar's way who was completely horrified at the sight of his best friend. "Cas..." he shook his head and looked at Garth, "Let's find Sam's group, I have a few things I want to say to Crowley." Garth smiled his agreement and those two ran ahead.

Dean looked down at the bloody bundle in his arms, Castiel struggling to breathe right and with every inhalation was another shudder of pain.  _'His grace is dying... He broke our bond to save me, didn't he?'_  Dean thought miserably, holding his lover just a little bit tighter with the thought.  _'You're always looking out for me, Cas... I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner.'_

* * *

_An hour earlier..._

"That's the lay out and that's the plan, everyone up to speed?" Sam asked, Dean had to admit that Sam's commanding voice was pretty impressive.

"Uh, just a question," Garth raised his hand as he stared down at the set up, "Won't that first explosion weaken the structure? We'd be running into a death trap."

Sam smirked, "Garth, I've been blowing up buildings like these since I was 14, I think I know what I'm doing." He pointed out the different support structures set up in the blue prints, "These'll hold the thing up just fine until we get out of there, assuming none of the angels have to do anything drastic."

"No promises there." Michael muttered.

"We'll blow the rest of it up easily once this whole thing is done with but first obviously we need to get inside." Sam crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at all the faces, seeing that some of them didn't quite understand the way he'd debriefed them. He sighed a little and cleared his throat, "Okay, more simply for some of you, we're going to be hitting the main support first because it's on the inside and it'll be easier to take down while they don't know we're there. Ash has already set up an easy in for us, they have a shipment of supplies arriving in less than an hour, we'll hide among the cargo and jump out once we're inside. The bomb team will head for the support structure, alpha team will head up to fight Crowley and take down his goons on the way, beta team looks for Castiel. Get it?"

"It sounds so much easier when you put it that way..." Annie muttered, earning a chuckle from Raphael.

"My dad was a marine, I tend to use his terms." Sam sighed, "Whatever, does everyone get it now?"

"Got it." Came the unified response.

"Who's uh... on what team again?" Chuck asked sheepishly, lifting his hand for attention.

Sam face-palmed, "Michael, Bella, Raphael, Annie, and Gabriel are all on the alpha team, the rest of you are on the beta team. The beta team will end up splitting up to find Castiel since this building has so many levels but we suspect the basement is where he's being held since that's just where the usually do it. The main prisoners are often in the lowest level, this building has three different base floors so you'll split into three's, Dean will lead the one on the lowest level, Garth and Balthazar will be in charge of the second last level, and Chuck and Anna will take the first of the three basements."

"Got it, good to go." Chuck saluted and looked at the others who just shook their heads. "What?"

"Now when the bomb team sets off that explosion there might be a bit of a power problem, if that happens we'll have to break through a lot of the doors since they're power-locked. If this goes the way I plan it to we won't have a power issue for very long." Sam looked them all over, it wasn't just the small group present, all of the Freedom Fighters were present and ready for this fight. "We're here to save Castiel, a name that all of you should have heard at this point. He's the inspiration that brought some of you to this group, he's a friend but most of all he's family. If we manage to get him back before the alpha team reaches Crowley we get out of there, understood?"

A loud shout from the crowd was all Sam needed as a response. He smiled and tossed the new-comers a package, "Alright, get your uniforms on and let's move out."

* * *

Sam motioned for Gabriel a few times, basically indicating to the people behind him that he was moving in and they should be ready. Gabriel blasted the door open and led the group into the main room where Crowley and all the other higher up executives were situated. "Hey guys," Gabriel grinned, "Remember us?"

Sam strolled in and smiled at Crowley who could only scowl in return, "I'm sure we all know what happens next here, don't we?"

"You blow us all up?" Crowley offered humourlessly.

"Soon," Sam nodded and lifted a hand to his ear, hearing all the radio talk indicating Castiel had been found. A whispered description from Anna about Castiel's condition sent a wave of rage through Sam, his limbs tightening as he clenched his jaw. "They found Cas," he looked at Gabriel who furrowed his brow.

"We just got up here; can we at least do away with these assholes?" Gabriel growled.

"No," Sam shook his head, "We won't kill anyone else."

"Bit late for the saint talk, isn't it?" Crowley sneered, the other executives in the room looked about as white as sheets.

"It's never too late to change what you are, to be sorry for the things you've done." Sam glanced over at Michael and Bella who had moved into the room to one side, Raphael and Annie taking the other. "Now how about you all come with us? I'm sure there are people in the world who'd like you to pay for all of this."

"Hurting angels isn't a crime," Crowley snarled as he started walking with the others, being herded out of the room.

"It will be." Sam stared down his nose at the short man and turned to lead them out. Gabriel prodded Crowley along, finding it too much fun to do so.

They were close to the main floor when Balthazar and Garth hurried up to them. Balthazar didn't stop however and punched Crowley right in the gut, sending the man flying backward into what would have been a wall if Michael hadn't been standing there. Hitting Michael was far worse than hitting a wall; walls don't kick you back to where you should have been standing. "That's for abducting Cas, you disgusting little worm!" Balthazar snapped, stalking toward the pudgy man squirming on the floor.

"Balthazar," Sam warned, "I know how you're feeling but doing this won't help anything."

"But he  _mutilated_  Castiel! He poisoned Cas' grace and carved out his wing!" Balthazar shook with anger.

"Lucifer destroyed his wing first, he did Cas a favour." Sam said calmly, "Come on."

"You haven't seen him!" Balthazar pointed back down the hall where he'd come from, "I've never seen him like this and I don't plan to forgive the man who did it."

"I've seen a lot worse than what's happened to Cas, Crowley only had half a day with him. Castiel will be fine." Every word Sam spat out was short and to the point, he stood nose to nose with Balthazar until the angel stepped down. What could Balthazar say? Sam was the one who aired that video of all the tortured angels in the first place, he'd seen and tried to rescue much, much worse situations. "Good, now let's get out of here."

The teams met up again at the entrance of the building, Sam gave the order to the rest of the bomb team and they moved out. Once outside they saw several news helicopters flying overhead and all Sam could think to do was wave at them. He couldn't help but wonder what the public would see and think after all of this.


	26. Chapter 26

"I've done what I can." Chuck sighed and placed a hand on Castiel's shoulder, the poor thing unconscious and still breathing awkwardly.

Dean gripped Castiel's hand tightly in his own and nodded. "Thanks, Chuck." He pet the now healed skin, now  _present_  skin, actually. Castiel's body had been almost entirely skinned alive, or at least that's what it looked like. Balthazar and the other angels had done all they could to heal him though Castiel still hadn't woken up. Chuck fixed the poisonous garbage in Castiel's grace and started to revert the deterioration process, whether or not any of it had been done soon enough... well, only time would tell.

Dean stroked Castiel's hair away from his face, glad to at least see him cleaned from blood and gore. The others had done all they could and waiting was all that was left and yet Dean couldn't just sit and do that. He stood and paced several times, hating the memories that lingered with Castiel's unconscious state. "Wake up, Cas." Dean finally dropped to his knees at the bedside, "Please? I'm here, I rescued you, now get up..."

"It isn't that easy, Dean." Sam said quietly as he walked into the room, "Chuck said he might not... You should be prepared for that-"

"No!" Dean shouted, standing up again and crossing the room to glare Sam in the face. "NO! I won't give up on him, I'll never... I'll never leave him again..."

"You didn't leave him, Dean. Castiel was taken, and you'll have to live with yourself whether he wakes up again or not. You can't say you'll never accept it." Sam said gently, not wanting to push Dean's mood too far over the edge.

Dean shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks, "No..." He whispered and walked back to Castiel's side. "If he never wakes up then I won't either."

"Dean!" Sam shouted, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What the hell are you saying?"

"I told myself that if Cas were ever to die I'd go with him, I won't let him be alone again, not ever." Dean turned a very serious expression toward Sam, "And I meant it when I said it, Sam. Castiel won't ever be alone again."

Sam opened his mouth to say something but nothing came to mind. He nodded slowly and looked over at Castiel's sleeping form, "Well at least he's finally resting..."

"He's probably still having nightmares..." Dean said quietly, his hand caressing the soft cheek of his angel, "Though right now he can't wake up from them."

Sam closed his eyes and walked out, not wanting to see Castiel like that any longer.

* * *

It'd been days now and Dean had done everything he could think of, or at least everything that involved the conscious world. Part of him was scared to look into their connection space, to see what kind of shambles it was in and if Castiel was even there. But at this point he just wanted his angel back, he just wanted Castiel wake up.

_Dean opened his eyes and walked quietly through the space dedicated to them, his feet finding nothing to walk on after several steps. He looked down at the destroyed connection; somehow it was visible and left to float around like some ugly debris in space. He grabbed a piece or two and put them together like a puzzle though without the bond it wouldn't stick. He dropped the pieces and let them drift away to mingle with the others._

_He looked up across the space and saw a familiar bundle though this time it wasn't floating like it had been the first time. Dean pressed his hands against the barrier, "Cas?" He called, trying to get a better look. The being unfolded for a moment, sticky with a dark substance to the point that stretching out almost looked painful._

" _It is you, Cas!" Dean pushed against the barrier harder, "Cas, come here! It's me!"_

_Castiel stared in a quiet awe, as if seeing Dean was the biggest shock he'd experienced lately. He started to get up, attempting to use his wings for balance though there was only one present and it threw him off. He hit the ground again, a soft cry escaping him but he tried again. Dean was heartbroken watching his angel struggle to stand and walk the space between them. Castiel quit trying to walk and started to crawl instead, his limbs quaky as he moved slowly, closing the gap._

_Dean knelt down to be at the same level as his partner, his fingers pressed against the invisible wall separating them. "Hey, baby." He whispered, "It's okay, I'm here."_

" _Dean..." Castiel whimpered as he lifted his head, shuffling to sit on his knees. "I'm so scared..." he reached up and tentatively put his hand against the wall, leaning forward to rest his head on it as well. "I can't connect us, you'll die..."_

" _It's okay, Chuck cleared all of that out of your system." Dean explained gently, still trying to coax Castiel that last inch to finally touch him again. "Cas I'll protect you from now on, I swear, please just wake up."_

" _How long have I been out?"_

" _A while," Dean rested his forehead in the same place that Castiel had placed his, they were so close. "Crowley and the other executives have been arrested and you'd be surprised but people really responded to this. I think nearly every country is pushing to give angels equal rights. Americans have threatened to get violent if the United States government doesn't push it through faster." Dean laughed softly, "We did it, you know. We saved them."_

_Castiel closed his eyes and smiled, falling the last few inches between them and into Dean's arms. Dean wrapped Castiel in a tight hug and held him there, ignoring the bright flashing lights between them that would normally blind him. He didn't care, he had his angel back._

Dean jumped a little, startled from a sudden movement. He looked down at the biggest blue eyes he'd ever missed, "Cas..." he whispered, "You're awake."

"You look like hell." Castiel said softly, a small smile gracing his lips.

Dean grinned and leaned down to kiss him, "Thanks, I love you too."

Castiel threw his arms around Dean's shoulders and clung to him as hard as he could, "I missed you..." he whispered, his voice cracking again, "I missed you so much."

Dean lifted Castiel up and sat down on the bed with his fiancé properly resting in his lap, "I missed you too, Cas." He reached up and wiped the tears from Castiel's eyes, ignoring the ones slipping out of his own. "I'll never let you be that alone again, I promise."

Castiel returned the favour and ran his thumb under Dean's eye and nodded, "I'm sorry I broke our bond..."

"So you were the one who did it. I thought maybe, but I wasn't sure." Dean kissed Casitel's forehead, "You saved my life again, thank you."

"We're even I think." Castiel smiled and rested his head on Dean's shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too." Dean lowered his head to rest his cheek on Castiel and sniff the vagrant shampoo in the angel's hair. "You smell nice."

Castiel snorted a laugh and looked up again, "Dork."

Dean only chuckled and hugged Castiel tighter.

The door opened a smidgeon and Garth poked his head in, "Hey supper's..." he stared for a moment, "Oh my god! I mean... Chuck... I mean whatever! Guys! GUYS CAS IS UP!" He ran down the hall screaming at the top of his lungs.

Castiel smiled and sighed, "Oh well, peace and quiet will have to wait a little while... Wait a second, where are we?"

"Sam's base in LA," Dean shrugged, "It was big enough for everyone to stay here all at once which helps considering everybody wanted to see how you'd turn out."

"How I'd turn out? Like a cake or something?" Castiel snickered, "But that's very sweet of them, I'll have to give them all a chance to hug me." He started to sit up and felt a motion in his wing, he glanced back and furrowed his brow, "Oh... right."

Dean looked at it and pet it gently, "At least one of them survived, right?"

Castiel gave him a flat expression, "Yeah, fantastic. Now I can maybe get a synthetic wing made so I can look like I'll fly but really I can't."

"Calm down, it'll be okay." Dean offered a sympathetic smile, trying not to let Castiel's bitter sarcasm ruin such a happy feeling. "You're alive, Cas. That's all I care about right now, can we just enjoy it?"

"Sorry..." Castiel sighed and pulled his wing back in to at least not be reminded every time he moved, "I just... I guess that's it for us, huh?"

"Even if you had both wings and were one hundred percent I'd never let you join another tournament, ever." Dean said sternly, getting a bit of a laugh from his angel.

"Right."

The door flew open and Balthazar was the first one in, stumbling over his own two feet as he rushed to Castiel's side, "You're awake!" he exclaimed cheerily though clearly he was concerned about touching Castiel's back.

"Yes, thank you captain obvious." Castiel smiled and lifted his arms, "You can hug me, it doesn't hurt."

The moment he gave the go ahead Balthazar wasn't the only one hanging off of him, Anna squeezed her way in there too, along with Gabriel who wasn't planning on missing out on giving Castiel 'welcome back' hugs. Sam walked in and smirked at Dean, "See? No suicide necessary."

Dean went to Sam and wrapped his little brother in a hug, "Sorry, I guess that scared you huh?"

"No, Castiel not waking up scared me." Sam nuzzled his cheek against Dean's, "After all, if Cas woke up then your threat would be moot."

"True." Dean pat Sam's shoulders and stepped back, "So what's the word on the outside world? Any progress?"

"It'll be in the higher court systems later this week," Sam ran a hand through his hair, watching as the more stoic angels like Michael and Raphael got in on almost molesting Castiel. "But it's looking pretty good. I'd start planning, if I were you."

"Oh all the planning's been long done, we were just waiting for a day to open up." Dean smiled, "Be my best man?"

"You k now I will. Just... can we go see mom and dad?" Sam looked at him with those puppy-dog eyes and Dean just couldn't say no, not that he would though.

* * *

Sam lifted his hand to ring the doorbell but Dean slapped his arm back down, "its mom and dad, man." He turned the handle and walked in calling out to the house, "Mom! Dad! We're home!"

There was movement in the living room and kitchen respectively, Mary and John both stumbled out to the entrance, John with a sandwich in hand from the kitchen and Mary dropped the magazine she'd been reading in the living room. "Boys!" She cried as she hurried over, "All three of you!" She threw her arms around Castiel first, "Oh my goodness, sweetie I'm so glad you're okay!" She kissed his cheek several times.

John clapped Dean on the shoulder, "Good job, Dean." He glanced up at Sam who stood stiffly to the side, Gabriel lurking behind him trying to push him forward. "Sam," John's tone softened as he walked over to his youngest, "Son, I am so proud of you."

Sam smiled as tears rushed to his eyes, "Dad... you mean it?"

John wrapped Sam up in a hug and gave him a good squeeze, "Of course, boy. You and your brother somehow managed to change the world's opinion on something. My boys changed the world, went against everything I taught them and showed me up." He laughed, "I've never been prouder to be wrong."

Sam clung to his father and finally let himself breathe again, "Thank you." He whispered before stepping back again.

"And the leadership in you, I never would have guessed." John smirked, "An entire rebel army listening to my kid, never saw it coming." He looked over at Castiel and Dean, "You two never cease to amaze me, either. Rescued your brother from the freaking devil. I'm still in awe."

Castiel smiled and let Mary hurry to give Sam the same loving 'mom treatment', "Yeah, it was hard. Gabriel really helped."

John looked over at the angel that had managed to creep into the house, "Hey, what's up?" Gabriel waved with a grin.

John stuck his hand out, "It's nice to meet you, Gabriel. Thanks for taking care of Sam."

"My pleasure, believe me." Gabriel clapped his hand into John's and shook it firmly, "Your kid's given me a run for my money."

"I believe it." John grinned and looked at everyone, "Well come in, get comfortable. I've already let supper burn so let's order pizza."

Dean started laughing, "Mom let you cook?"

"She insisted I give it a shot." John shrugged then glanced at Mary to see if she was listening, since she was mostly preoccupied with Sam John leaned toward Dean to whisper, "Between you and me, I was going to let it burn anyway."

Dean snickered, "You suck, dad."

"Don't I though?" John grinned and went for the phone, "I'll order it, go sit in the living room."

Though it was expected that they'd talk about the tournament and all of the political things going on with angels, none of them particularly felt like it. Instead they talked about other things, what John and Mary had been up to lately, how Castiel wanted to try making Dean a pie again, what Sam planned to do now that the Freedom Fighters were probably going to disband and head home. College seemed like the most obvious choice, he'd finished high school on his own with grades that shocked his parents so why not? Something in law enforcement sounded like fun to him.

* * *

_A few weeks later..._

Chuck sighed as he sealed off the cage again, "That took a lot longer than I expected..."

"You really think it matters to lock him up?" Anna frowned, looking at Lucifer's cage, "I mean he's pretty much unconscious, isn't he? His grace and power is all gone with you right now."

"I'll come and get him out later," Chuck smiled, "When he wakes up I want him to sit and think about what he's done for a little while."

Anna laughed, "Right, I guess you're allowed." She curled her hair behind her ear nervously, "So... now what?"

"Now we go back home." Chuck started walking casually.

"Heaven?" She asked curiously as she followed suit.

"No, my apartment. We have to get dressed for today's event." Chuck smiled at her, "Lots of preparations left to do yet."

She felt somewhat relieved to hear that, "Of course. Cas would be pissed if we showed up late."

Being traditional wasn't really something on their minds, yes they wanted family from either side, yes they wanted finish it with a kiss, and they definitely wanted it to be forever. But that was about it. They were just going to gather everyone and get it done with quickly but Mary would have none of it. She picked the location, a beautiful seaside view from the altar and seating, she had picked out all the decorations and, with the help of everyone who wanted to be involved with the set up, made the area perfect.

Castiel walked down the aisle to the sound of angels singing a chorus of 'here comes the bride' in a blissful harmony. He walked with Balthazar at his side; he'd rather have no other person with him as his knees felt too weak to take another step to the one he loved. He bid his friend a short goodbye as Balthazar moved to the 'best man' position with the other two angels, Gabriel and Michael respectfully.

Dean glanced back at Sam, Chuck, and Ash who all gave him reassuring smiles, a thumbs-up from Ash. Dean took a deep breath and turned to the gorgeous angel he'd already long dedicated his life to, his eyes glistened as he fought back tears. Despite having been expecting this for five years, after all of the recent crap they'd gone through Dean was even more excited now to be marrying Castiel than he was when he first proposed.

"You know you're everything to me," Dean said softly, taking Castiel's hand in his. "I can't imagine my life without you in it, Cas."

Castiel blushed and nodded, "I know, I feel the same way." He glanced at where most people would have a priest or something but not them; instead it was just the two of them standing there together. He looked down the aisle where there were several news cameras set up and ready to cover the first human-angel marriage in history. "I guess you all came here to see a kiss, huh?" The crowd clapped and cheered for them, all Castiel could do was laugh, "First I'd just like to thank John Winchester, Bobby Singer, and Rufus Turner for setting up those cheeseburgers in the middle of nowhere."

Dean scooped Castiel up into his arms and locked lips with him, earning a long and excited cheer from everyone present. "Dean and Castiel Winchester, everyone!" Sam called to urge the crowd on and it worked, people stood to continue clapping louder and louder.

Castiel leaned back for a brief second to smile at Dean who smiled back, they'd done it. Finally.


	27. Chapter 27

Dean kicked the door open to their honeymoon suite, Castiel firmly wrapped around his torso and devouring his lips. Dean kicked his shoes off and stumbled to the bed, dropping down and pinning Castiel to the mattress with his weight. "You're gorgeous." He breathed between kisses.

"Shut up and fuck me." Castiel growled, starting to wriggle out of his clothes. He groaned from Dean's touch, it'd been too long since he'd felt this.

Dean smiled; glad to have his angel back. "You got it, princess." He yanked Castiel's pants off and threw them to the corner of the room, discarding his own and pausing to look down at the lump growing beneath Castiel's underwear. He smirked and palmed at it a few times, listening to the increasingly sporadic moans it earned him.

Castiel squirmed, his cheeks flushed and burning nearly as hot as the rest of his body. Before the tournament they hadn't done this because neither of them could really say they were in the mood, what with Sam's little rampages and Castiel's nightmares. Then during the tournament they barely had any time to sleep let alone have sex, of course the tournament ending rather poorly after which Castiel needed time to recover. Now here they were, finally getting back into the swing of things and nothing had ever felt sweeter.

Dean caressed Castiel's flat stomach, his hands finding his angel's hip line and teasing it gently with added pressure. Castiel's breath hitched in a quick little gasp as he shifted up into the touch. Dean slid his hands up Castiel's torso, feeling every little curve and dip in his skin, lifting Castiel's shirt up higher and higher, exposing him further. Dean slipped the clothing off of his husband, leaving him in only his underwear. Dean's eyes skated over what was now legally his, the most perfect body he could have ever asked for to lie with him every night.

Before Castiel could complain again Dean lowered to his waist again, nipping at the cotton covered elastic and dragging it down his hips and off his aching erection. Castiel whimpered happily as the air touched his wet tip, finally free from what was starting to feel like suffocation. He kicked the fabric when Dean had lowered it far enough, his legs spreading open for better access, an invitation to his partner.

Dean didn't wait much longer, slowly wrapping his lips around the swollen and hardened flesh, taking a moment to taste everything Castiel had to offer his tongue. He moaned as Castiel's hips bucked upward, his angel crying out excitedly and apparently not able to control his more animalistic tendencies. Regardless, Dean continued slowly, his tongue working around the throbbing vein and up to the leaking head.

Even in his dazed state Castiel was still capable of thinking clearly enough to have an idea. "Dean," he gasped, "sit over me while you do that."

Dean grinned and did exactly as was asked of him, his legs spread over Castiel who sat upright to take Dean into his mouth. Dean felt a rush of heat wash over him but did his best to concentrate on what he was doing for his angel, his hips gaining a slow rhythm and gently thrusting down for more of Castiel's mouth.

Castiel snapped up a bottle of lube and nudged it into Dean's hand, mentally complimenting himself on his multi-tasking skills and hoping Dean had some as well. Luckily for him Dean wasn't new to the whole idea and cracked the bottle right away, his hands slicked up and ready. He pushed a finger into Castiel right away, twirling it around and sliding in and out to prepare him.

Castiel gasped and moaned around Dean's cock earning a shudder from his husband, apparently the vibrations of Castiel's vocal-chords added to the experience. As much as Castiel would enjoy a face full of cum from Dean he wanted a hard cock in his ass more.

Dean pushed in a second finger, starting to lose a little of his patience in this, he could feel himself closing in on the edge and he didn't want to disappoint his angel. He climbed off of Castiel and concentrated on working him open instead, listening to the sweet sounds being uttered from his angel's throat. "Ready, baby?"

Castiel nodded quickly, his back starting to arch a little, "Oh Dean..." He gasped but Dean didn't wait to see what he'd say, slamming his moistened dick into Castiel's entrance. Castiel threw his head back and screamed, he didn't care who or what could hear him at this point. His vision was definitely impaired, or maybe his eyes were squeezed shut, either way he as loving it. "Fuck! Yes... Oh god..."

Dean took every word from Castiel as encouragement, slamming in harder and harder, enjoying the loud slapping sounds mixed with their moans and Castiel's curses. He looked down at the beautifully scrunched expression of pleasure on Castiel's face, his mouth open, eyes closed and brow arched, even the little bit of drool at the corner of his lips. Dean loved every little piece of this, of Castiel, and of the forever that they'd spend together.

Castiel's muscles spazzed and his head rolled backward as Dean took hold of his throbbing member and squeezed. It was barely a few thrusts of his hand before Castiel had come all over both of them, his anal passage tensing around Dean's cock and forcing the same reaction out of his partner. They rode their orgasms out together, collapsing in a heap of limbs, naked skin and slowly drying semen. Castiel gasped and gulped in air until he'd caught his breath, his eyes opening and focusing on ceiling above him.

Dean took a moment to gather himself before gently pulling out of Castiel and dropping down into the sheets next to him, his arms finding their proper positions around the angel and pulling him into a hug. Castiel smiled and happily rolled into the embrace, entwining their limbs and snuggling in as close as he could. They lay that way for a few minutes in silence, just enjoying the feeling of the other person all around them.

Dean leaned over and kissed Castiel's forehead, an action he'd grown accustomed to. "I love you, Cas."

Castiel lifted his head and pressed his lips to Dean's, making out with him slowly, carefully taking the time to soak up as much of Dean's heat as he could. He broke it off with a light smack sound and smiled, "I love you too, Dean."

They stared at one another's eyes and both of them knew that this is who they were always meant to meet, the person who would always be there for them and protect them no matter what. It was a rare relationship that they had, some might call it perfect though they were pretty certain their flaws were the things that made things interesting.

"Wanna go again?" Dean asked with a dirty grin.

"You know I do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of part 2. Remember to come back for the last part of the trilogy ;)
> 
> Short summary of Angel Training 3: Uprising
> 
> It's been ten years since their wedding, since the last tournament that they assumed the fighting was all over. Dean and Castiel have become symbols of peace and coexistence in the world, revered and deified. When what looks like a small group of angry angels turns out to be an army for a revolution, Dean and Castiel find themselves once again stuck in a battle they don't want.

**Author's Note:**

> For those that remember this story on fanfiction.net you already know me fairly well. For the rest; hello! :D I just wanted to say thank you for giving my work the time of day ^_^ I appreciate it! If you could let me know what you thought with a comment or 'kudos' as this site calls them, you'd really make my day :D Thanks again


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